


Beneath The Milky Twilight

by Kaimu



Category: Glee
Genre: M/M, Puckurt Big Bang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-08
Updated: 2012-06-08
Packaged: 2017-11-07 07:08:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 27,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/428296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaimu/pseuds/Kaimu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Noah Puckerman and his girlfriend Quinn Fabray break up during the summer. David Karofsky sees his chance to make a bet with Puck because he knows the guy never backs down on a challenge. Puck has to make another girl the Prom Queen instead of Quinn and David may pick out the "lucky" girl in question. What happens when David doesn't pick out a real girl but the school's Resident Fairy; Kurt Hummel? How will Puck take on a challenge like that? More importantly; how will he succeed in this meaningless when he starts struggling with hidden away feelings?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beneath The Milky Twilight

Title:  Beneath The Milky Twilight  
Author: saar_fantasy (on LJ)  
Artist: albalonga99 (on LJ)  
Betas: lpmouche , ikwubls and silver_serpant (all 3 on LJ)   
Main Pairing:  Puck/Kurt  
Side Pairings (although ~very minor): Santana/Brittany, Sam/Mercedes, Blaine/Sebastian  
Friendship Pairings: Puck/Sam/Finn, Quinn/Santana/Brittany, Puck/Rachel, Kurt/Mercedes, Kurt/Blaine  
Rating:PG-13  
Type: AU, Romance, Angst  
Word Count: 27.700  
Warnings: Bitchy!Quinn, Bad guy!Karofsky   
Summary:  Noah Puckerman and his girlfriend Quinn Fabray break up during the summer. David Karofsky sees his chance to make a bet with Puck because he knows the guy never backs down on a challenge. Puck has to make another girl the Prom Queen instead of Quinn and David may pick out the "lucky" girl in question. What happens when David doesn't pick out a real girl but the school's Resident Fairy; Kurt Hummel? How will Puck take on a challenge like that? More importantly; how will he succeed in this meaningless when he starts struggling with hidden away feelings?  
Disclaimer: Nothing really happened. It's just my imagination in overdrive. Title is from the song "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None The Richer. I do own the OC's.  
Special Thanks: I feel like I have to thank a few people. First of all, thanks to hysterichotel for hosting this festival! I'm sorry if I've been a pain sometimes :) Thanks to lpmouche, ikwubls and silver_serpant for beta-ing this monster and helping me create something actually readable. Thanks to albalonga99 for being an amazing artist and friend! <333 She put so much work into this. Don't forget to give her some love :) Last but not least: my ever lasting thanks to my f-list, whom I deprived of any other of my fics in my other fandom(s) for so long. Thank you for listening to me ranting and bitching about being afraid to not get this fic done. Thank you for sticking by me, cheerleading, believing in me. I love you all <333

  
  
**Chapter 1**   
  


  


Puck stood in the school courtyard with his two best friends, Finn and Sam, discussing their summer.  


Not that Puck had much to tell since the news that his girlfriend Quinn had broken up with him had already spread around.

 

They all probably thought he had been sulking the whole summer.  


"Yo, Puckerman!" the three boys stopped talking as Dave Karofsky approached them.  "I heard about Q, man. What a bummer you couldn't keep her, huh? Now your reputation will be ruined."  


Puck snorted, "My rep has never had anything to do with Quinn, dude. Besides, I can have anyone I want in this stupid town."  


One look at Dave’s expression and Finn and Sam knew this wasn’t going to end well.  


"Yeah? You're willing to bet on that?" Dave challenged.  


Puck turned to look as Sam put a hand on his shoulder, "Don't get into this, dude."  


Puck never backed down out of a bet, or a dare, so why would he back out of this?  He ignored the warning to be careful with Karofsky, "Name the conditions."  


Dave smirked, "Well, I'll pick out one person whom you will have to make your new lover, then you'll have to make sure she'll become Prom Queen."  


Puck raised his eyebrow, "You do know that Quinn will do anything to be Prom Queen, don't you."  


Karofsky smirked widely slinging his arm around Puck’s shoulders and steered him around Finn and Sam who continued to follow behind.  


"That's exactly the point here, Puck. So, are you in or not?"  


Just then Puck caught sight of his ex-girlfriend kissing her newest victim, a local celebrity.  


It stung, but it also helped make his decision.  Karofsky, who had been following Puck's gaze, knew what he was gonna say before he said it out loud.  


"I'm in."  


Karofsky did a mental victory dance.  


"Alright! Let's find ourselves a victim!"

 

 

  


Kurt stumbled out of his father's car, music sheets under one arm, satchel under the other.  


"Bye dad," he called out, giving him a quick wave.  


"Bye son," Burt called back, "Have a nice day at school."  


Kurt gave a small smile and a curt nod before he ran to the school's courtyard.  


Not watching where he was going, he stumbled over one of the small steps. He was able to stop himself from faceplanting to the floor, but he couldn't stop the music sheets from dropping out under his arm.  


"Oh, damn it!"   


  


Puck, Karofsky, Sam and Finn all watched the resident fairy scramble to pick up his papers, all four of them snickering a little.  


Suddenly a lightbulb went on in Karofsky's head.  He had found the perfect victim.  


"Well, Puckerman." he said punching Puck's shoulder, "Guess we found your new lover."  


"What?" Puck asked, looking from Kurt to Karofsky, "But he's a boy."  


"Barely," Karofsky laughed, Finn and Sam both sniggering a little as well. "He's perfect for our bet."  


Puck shook his head while Finn and Sam stared at him in amusement.  


"What?" Karofsky said with an arrogant smirk on his face, "Don't tell me you're chickening out."  


That was something Puck never did and Karofsky knew it.  


He turned to the taller boy and held out his hand.  


"I'll do it."  


Karofsky shook Puck's hand, while Finn and Sam shook their heads.  They both knew this was going to cause trouble.

 

The three boys left, leaving Puck alone to stare at his new "love interest".  


He swallowed hard as he watched the boy pick up his papers and scurry away into the crowd.  


This was gonna be a hell of a task.

  


  
  
**Chapter 2**   
  


 

  


Kurt mentally cursed himself when he bumped into a broad chest as he ran out of one classroom to go to the next.  He braced himself for the full load of curses and accusations for his recklessness, but nothing came.  


He finally looked up into the face of the most popular guy in school and was completely speechless.  


"Wow there, Hummel," Puck spoke, "Watch where you're going."  


The fact there wasn't one bit of anger in his tone confused Kurt more than anything.  


"Can we talk?"  


The question made Kurt flee in the other direction. He hadn't counted on Puck following him.  


"What could we possibly have to talk about, Puck?"  


"I don't know," Puck shrugged, keeping in step with the boy, "Just...Stuff."  


"Stuff," Kurt parroted,, "As if any of my stuff would interest you."  


And yeah, that sentence had so much innuendo, it wasn't even funny.  


He hoped that Puck was too dumb to pick up on it, but unfortunately, he wasn't.  


He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, making Kurt regret immediately that he had even glanced at the boy.  


"You never know, Hummel."  


"Oh, please," Kurt scoffed again, "I know you're a bigoted Neanderthal. What in Gaga's name could we have in common? And I'm not talking about our dicks here."  


That was followed by complete and utter silence on Puck's part.  


"I thought so." Kurt said and hurried away.  


This time, Puck didn't follow.  


  


Puck sighed as he took a seat on the bleachers next to his best girl friend Rachel.  


Ok, they were quite the unlikely pair, but their friendship worked.  


"Tell me that I still have it in me."  


"Have what in you exactly?" Rachel asked with a frown.  


"My flirting skills."  


Rachel laughed, "Oh believe me, you still have them in you. Since your break up with Quinn, all the other girls are already planning on how to seduce you into their beds."  


Puck smirked at that, "Really?"  


"Yes Noah, really.Now tell me what you're really here for. Or was it just for an ego boost?"  


Puck shook his head, "No, it's not that. I just needed to know because... I just got kind of rejected..."  


Rachel perked up and looked at him in shock, "By who?"  


"By Hummel." Puck muttered.  


Rachel blinked, "What? I didn't quite hear you correctly.  I thought you said, 'by Hummel'."  


Puck looked down for a minute then back at his best friend.  


"I did."  


"You tried to flirt with Kurt Hummel?!"  


Puck held up his hands in a shushing manner.  


"Quiet down, Rach." he quickly looked around to see if someone could have heard her."Don't scream like that. Besides, it wasn't really flirting."  


"Then what was it?"  


"I don't know," Puck shrugged, "I just want to get to know the guy."  


"Now?" Rachel asked incredulously.  "Now you want to get to know him? It's our last year in this school, couldn't you have gotten to know him sooner?"  


"I guess..."  


Rachel turned fully to her friend and poked a finger into his chest.  


"Noah Puckerman, if this is some kind of prank, I swear to all that is Holy, I will kill you."  


Puck tried to hide his flinch as he took Rachel's finger and gently kissed it.  


"It's not a prank, Rach. I promise."  


Rachel looked into Puck's eyes for a few minutes. When he gave her his puppy-eyes, she snorted and pulled her hand back.  


"Alright. I believe you. But I mean what I said. If I find out that this-"  


"Yeah, yeah," Puck interrupted her and took her hand back in his own, "Will you help me?"  


There were those puppy-eyes again...  She really needed to find a way to get immune to them.  


"Fine," she sighed, "I'll help you."  


Puck smiled and kissed the back of her hand, getting a smile back in return.  


What she didn't know was that his heart rate had sped up by ten miles a minute.  


If she found out that this was all for a bet, she really was gonna come after him to hurt him.  


What the hell had he gotten himself into?

  


  
  
**Chapter 3**   
  


  


"Any ideas how to impress Hummel?" Puck asked as he dropped himself down on Rachel's bed.  


"Now it's impressing him," Rachel said with a bemused look on her face, "I thought you just wanted to get to know him?"  


Puck waved his hand, "It's all the same. Now, what's the plan my Hot Little  Jewish-American Princess?"  


Rachel rolled her eyes at the nickname he gave her a long time ago, and went straight to business.  


"If you want to get to know the guy, find out what he likes. How he spends his weekends."  


"He works on weekends."  


Rachel frowned, "How do you know that?"  


Puck shrugged, "I have ears."  


Rachel smiled a little, "Wow, impressive. Why don't you give him a visit at his work then?"  


Puck pondered for a minute before nodding his head.  


"That's not a bad idea."  


"I never have, bad ideas, Noah." Puck raised his eyebrow, "Well, except that one time," another eyebrow raise, "And all those other times...But that's out of the concept. "  


"No, it isn't."  


Rachel slapped Puck's chest, "Shut up, or I'll never help you again."  


Puck laughed and pulled Rachel down on the bed with him, ruffling her hair.  


"Thank you, Rach." He said, kissing the side of her head, "You're the best friend I've ever had."  


Both knew he was right because his other friends only brought him trouble.  


Trouble he could never stay away from.  


  


 

"I mean, why would Noah Puckerman want to talk to me, 'Cedes?" Kurt asked his best friend while he blended a smoothie for one of his customers, "He's...Well, he's Noah Puckerman."  


Mercedes snorted, "What's that supposed to mean?"  


"It means," Kurt replied as he smiled at the customer who was just paying him for his drink, "That he and I have absolutely nothing in common. What could we possibly talk about? "  


"Maybe he'll surprise you," at Kurt's snort, she quickly added, "In a good way."  


As there were no other customers, Kurt leaned with his arms on the counter right in front of his friend.  


"Puck doesn't do good surprises."  


"You don't know that," Mercedes replied, doing the final finishing touches on her nail polish, "Besides, he's a fiiiiiiiiiiiine looking boy."   


The bell chimed above the door and Mercedes smiled, "Speaking of the devil..."  


Kurt's head snapped sideways to look at the door and nearly screamed when Noah Puckerman strutted inside.  


He straightened and went back to customer service mode.  "What can I get you, sir?" Kurt smiled politely.  


Noah gave a nod in Mercedes' direction then turned back to Kurt.  


"You can get me some time to talk."  


"I'm working, Puck."  


"No you're not," Mercedes said, getting behind the counter, "I'm taking over for you."  


"Mercedes," Kurt hissed between his teeth.  


"Go," mouthed Mercedes and pushed Kurt from behind the counter while Puck went to sit down at a table.  


Kurt sent a glare over his shoulder to Mercedes then walked over to Puck, sighing deeply.  


"What do you want?"  


Puck pointed to the seat in front of him at the other side of the table, "I would like you to sit down."  


Kurt scowled but Puck just raised his eyebrow.  Kurt did as he was told, sitting down with a huff of air leaving his mouth.  


Puck flashed a very brief smile before his face got all serious again.  


"Look, Kurt, I was just wondering if you could help me with something."  


"If you're asking me to get you help your grades up, I'm really not that smart."  


Puck laughed, making Kurt feel just plain confused.  


"Dude, I have like, the best grades of all the people in our year."  


Kurt bit back the comment to not call him dude, instead he looked over at Mercedes, who nodded vigorously.  


Kurt was surprised, but he tried not to show it as he turned back to the person in front of him.  


"So," he spoke up again, feeling very insecure this time, "What do you want from me, then?"  


"I want to talk to you about..." Puck stalled for time a little, his eyes darting around, landing on a poster that gave him the perfect idea. "Music. I'm here to talk with you about music."  


Kurt's one eyebrow raised a little, but he couldn't stop the curling of his lips into a small smile.  


"Music, huh? Well, that's something I didn't know Noah Puckerman was interested in."  


"There's a lot you don't know about me. So, will you help me?"  


Kurt was kind of intrigued, but he kept himself from getting too excited. And too nosy.  


"I guess. What exactly is it you need help with?"  


"Well...I can play pretty much every decent instrument. Guitar, Piano, Drums. I just don't know if I sing well enough."  


"You should hear Kurt sing something some day," Mercedes pipes up and how the hell did she get to their table so suddenly without either of the two boys noticing? "Actually,  you can go and see him tonight if you'd like. He has a gig, no, a  show at The Crow tonight. If you're interested, you should really go. Kurt is amazing."  


Kurt's face was as red as a tomato as he hissed at his best friend, "Why did you have to say that, 'Cedes?"  


"Because he might like seeing you sing. Wouldn't you, Puck?"  


"I can't really elaborate on that because I haven't seen or heard anything yet," Puck shrugs, then smiles, "But yeah, I would like to give it a try."  


Kurt groaned into his hands while Mercedes patted his shoulder.  He angrily swatted her hand away then stood up from his seat.  


"Meet me at The Crow at 8. Don't be late."  


"What?" Puck called after Kurt's retreating back, "No picking you up at your place?"  


Kurt ’didn’t even turn around as he replied, "It's not a date, Puckerman!"  


As Mercedes laughed,  Puck couldn't help but smile as he walked out of the store.  


  


Puck texted Rachel  as he came out of the store, informing her of the meeting with Kurt.  While her answer wasn't quite what he expected, it was still unmistakeably her.  


  
_"Don't you dare mess this up."_   


  


  
  
**Chapter 4**   
  


  


Puck ’didn’t really know what to expect when he arrived ten minutes early at the front door of The Crow.   


And really ten minutes means a lot when you're Noah Puckerman, because Noah Puckerman is NEVER too early for anything.  


He was just a little anxious to hear Kurt sing, because when he asked Rachel about it she said the same thing as Mercedes.  "Kurt is amazing." She then added, "If he wasn't gay, I would ask him to make babies with me."  


Puck really didn't know if he found that cute or frightening, endearing or repulsive.  He didn't know how to react to it at all. So he let out a weird laugh and changed the subject.  


Now he was here, waiting for said 'amazing' boy, looking at his watch for probably the umpteenth time already.  


Really, the bouncers were even watching him suspiciously, even after he told them he was waiting for someone.  


Then he heard his name called and the boy ran up to him.  A very stunning looking boy to be honest. But Puck didn't think that way about guys.  


Nope. He totally didn't.  


"Sorry I'm late," Kurt panted, hanging over a little and leaning on his knees to catch his breath.  


"You're not too late," Puck answered, his eyes on his watch, "You're just in time." Kurt looks up at him with a confused look, but Puck just shrugged and gestured to the door of the club, "Shall we then?"  


Kurt straightened, wiped his bangs out of his face and smiled. "We shall."  


Walking into the club, Puck found himself surprised that Kurt would even go to a place like this.  It was completely weird and ’there wasn’t a soul he recognized from school. But, wait... That's it!  


There's no one from school so Kurt wouldn't feel embarassed or get harassed by someone because these people only know him from seeing him occasionally here or in town or in the city.  


"I have to go backstage and get ready," Kurt said. “I asked John to keep a table free for you in the front of the performing stage, so I'll wave him over now."  


Before Puck could reply, Kurt waved at someone and the guy immediately came over to them, smiling at Kurt.  


Kurt smiled back politely, "John, this is the guy I've told you about. Can you lead him to his table? I have to get backstage. The guys are probably waiting for me and getting nervous already."  


John gave him a smile, then showed Puck to his table as Kurt rushed off.  


"First time you're here?" John asked as he watched Puck's eyes dart around the room as they walked.  


Puck nodded, "Yeah. It is. First time I'll hear Hu- I mean, Kurt, sing."  


John chuckled, "It's ok to call him Hummel. I call him that sometimes too. And boy, are you in for a surprise. Actually, so is Kurt."  


They arrived at the table and Puck frowned as he sat down.   


"What do you mean?"  


John smiled and winked at Puck, "You'll see."  


Before Puck could say another word, John was gone, back to his bar to do his duty.

 

  


"About time that you showed up, boy."  


"Mercedes?" Kurt asked, confused as he entered the room where he and his band always waited before their  
performances.  "What are you doing here? Who's holding the shop open?"  


"Blaine is," Mercedes answered happily, "So you have absolutely nothing to worry about."  


Kurt let out a little sigh of relief. That was at least something good about this situation.  


"You still haven't answered what you're doing here."  


"I'm here to sing with you."  


"What?" Kurt nearly screamed as his hands flew up in the air. "Oh no, 'Cedes. No, no, NO. We are NOT doing that song and that's final."  


"You do know Noah Puckerman is Jewish, right?"  


"I'm aware of that, yes."  


"Why not sing a song from a Jewish artist then?"  


"I don't think Puck is a big fan of Adam Lambert's music..."  


"Oh, but he will like it when he hears you sing it." She raised her hand to stop him from giving any sort of comment then waved to the boys of his band. "Come on, boys. We have a show to do. You come along too, Kurt. I can't sing without you in front of your childhood crush."  


Kurt watched in shock as the guys followed Mercedes out of the room, all giving him an apologetic smile.  


He quickly rushed after them, calling out to Mercedes.  


"He is NOT my childhood crush!"  


The only response he got was a laugh and Kurt rolled his eyes.  


Then he ducked his head to hide his blush.  


Damn, why, and how, did that girl know him so well?  


  
  
**Chapter 5**   
  


 

  


Puck was playing with the card that had been placed under the glass of coke John had brought him, when a sudden noise drew his gaze to the people walking up onto the stage.  


It seemed like the rest of the club had heard it as well, because the crowd started cheering when they saw who were up there.  


Kurt and his band must be really popular in this joint' Puck thought to himself. He stopped his inner dialogue and watched as the band, Kurt and Mercedes readied for the first song.  


When Kurt brough the microphone to his mouth, everyone went quiet.  If Puck edged closer to the edge of his seat, nobody would have noticed.  


Kurt introduced himself, Mercedes and his band, then he started singing.  


Puck didn't recognize the song immediately, but after a few words, he knew exactly what it was.  


It wasn't like he was an Adam Lambert fan or anything, but who didn't know that song?  They played it more than enough on the radio for him to recognize "Whataya Want From Me."   And if Puck wasn't mistaken, which he was pretty sure he wasn't, Kurt looked straight at him with every "Whataya Want From Me" he sang.  


Mercedes was pretty amazing as well, but Puck's eyes kept going back to Kurt.  


He looked a little nervous up there at first, but enthusiasm quickly replaced the nervousness once he sang the first bars of the song.  


Kurt's voice soared on the higher notes and Puck's jaw dropped just a little bit.  


Lambert was a master on those high notes, but it seemed like Hummel kept pretty much up with him.  Good for the kid.   


Puck couldn't help but feel a little bit of pride well up in him, even though he didn't know the boy at all. That much seemed pretty clear by now.  Yet nothing could  keep him from being impressed.  When the song was over he gave a standing ovation with all the others, smiling at Kurt when he saw him glancing over at him.  


This was a whole different side to the Kurt Hummel Puck thought he knew.  A side which Puck definitely enjoyed.

 

  


Kurt was still in his adrenaline rush as he tentatively walked down the two steps of the stage, Mercedes' arm draped around his shoulder.  


"Amazing as always, white boy."   


"Thanks," Kurt smiled, "I hope Puck liked it..."  


"Liked it?" Mercedes asked incredulously, "Have you seen his face? That boy is so in love with your voice."  


Kurt laughed a little, "He might be in love with my voice. That doesn't mean he'll like me."  


Mercedes' face softened as she squeezed his shoulder. "It's never too late for that."  


They were making their way over to Puck's table when suddenly a girl came rushing up to them.  


"Kurt!" the girl beamed at him as she caught up with them, "You were absolutely amazing. Definitely worthy of a Golden Star."  


Kurt shared a glance with Mercedes. Both trying not to roll their eyes.  


That girl and her golden stars...  


"Thanks, Rachel," Kurt smiled politely, "Now, if you'll excuse us. We were actually meeting up with someone."  


"Oh," she said, then followed Kurt's gaze to the table where Puck was sitting and grinned broadly. "Noah!"  


Noah looked up at the familiar voice and groaned a little when he saw Rachel standing with Kurt and Mercedes, waving enthusiastically at him.  


The trio strolled up to him, Rachel still grinning widely.  


"Noah Puckerman, what a coincidence."  


"Yeah," Puck muttered, "Fancy that. What are you doing here, Rach?"  


"Isn't that obvious?" she asked, plopping down onto the seat next to Puck, "I'm here to watch Kurt perform."  


Puck raised his eyebrow at her, "You sure that's the only reason you're here?"  


"Why of course," Rachel replied, moving her head so her hair swept out of her eyes, "Why else?"  


Kurt and Mercedes both looked at each other in confusion, then Mercedes cleared her throat.  


"I'm sorry to interrupt you guys, but um, Puck, what did you think of my boy's singing? He's a true talent, right?"  


Kurt slapped Mercedes' arm and tried to hide his blush. Seriously, Noah Puckerman did NOT need to see him blush.  


"I didn't really like the song, but," Kurt looked at Mercedes in a 'I told you so' way, Mercedes just shrugged. "Kurt made it work."  


Kurt's head snapped towards the jock, who smiled at him.  


"Really?"  


Puck rolled his eyes, "I wouldn't lie about something like that. You're really good, Kurt. Seriously."  


Yep, there was the blush again...  


Damn his pale, porcelain-like skin.  


"So, Puck," Mercedes'voice brought Kurt back from his own little world, "When are you gonna sing for us?"  


Puck shifted on his stool nervously, "Um... I don't know?"  


Of course Rachel had to butt in, much to Puck's chagrin and Mercedes' pleasure.  


"Why don't you sing now, Noah?"  


"Now?" Puck asked, looking at the three people; one next to him, two in front of him; at seeing the hopeful glint in Kurt's eyes, Puck knew he had to give it a shot. "Can I borrow a guitar?"  


"Sure," Kurt piped up, "I'll ask Dan. He won't mind as long as you treat it like a baby."  


Puck nodded, "I always treat a guitar with respect."  


'You should try that with people too," Kurt thought but didn't dare to voice it out loud.   


"Ok, I'll go ask him," Kurt scurried off.  


Puck suddenly wasn't so sure if he wanted  to sing here. Sure, he always felt more comfortable with a guitar, that's why he asked Kurt if he could borrow one, but still...  


Then he realized that Kurt had Mercedes to back him up, not that he had needed it, and his eyes turned to Rachel.  


"Rach?"  


"Hmm?""  


"Would you like to sing with me?"  


A smile brighter than sunlight broke out over Rachel's face.  


"I thought you'd never ask."  


Puck gave her his usual smirk and they both stood up, Puck offering his arm to her.  


They walked over to the stage where Kurt was waiting with Dan and his guitar.  


After Dan made sure that Puck would treat his guitar like he would treat his own, he walked away, while Kurt walked to the table where Mercedes was sitting.  


While Puck tuned the guitar and Rachel did some voice warm-ups, Kurt and Mercedes started gossiping.  


"Aren't you curious to hear Mister Popular Jock sing?"  


Kurt nodded, "I can't say I'm not. It's kind of exciting."  


"I hope he actually can sing."  


"Oh my Gaga," Kurt exclaimed, his nose wrinkling as he smiled, "That would be so embarrassing!"  


Before Mercedes could reply, Puck spoke into the microphone, Rachel at his side.  It was clear to everyone Rachel wanted to break out talking too, but Puck ’wouldn’t let her.  


He immediately started strumming his guitar, leaving Rachel no choice but to get ready to sing.  


Kurt recognized the song from the first few notes and he smiled.   "Falling Slowly" from the movie 'Once' somehow seemed really fitting.  


As much as Puck's guitar skills surprised Kurt, he was even more surprised by his voice.  


  
_'And he says he's afraid that his voice isn't good enough?'_   Kurt called bullshit.  


When the song was over Puck looked more than a little self-conscious, while Rachel was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet.  


The people in the club had seemed to enjoy the performance, Kurt noticed, because they were all still clapping when Noah walked off the stage.  


He gave the guitar back to Dan, who inspected his prized posession, then smiled at Puck and told him he was great.  


Puck gave him only half of his trademark smirk, then made his way over to Kurt and Mercedes' table, hands tucked into his pockets, noting that Rachel was already there.  


"Here he is," Rachel draped her arm over his shoulder before she started gushing over him, "Isn't he a great singer? I always tell him that he's great. He just doesn't believe me. Can you believe that?  The great Noah Puckerman is actually unsure about somethi-mph!"  


Puck put his hand in front of the loud-mouthed's girl mouth and hissed through gritted teeth.  "That's enough, Rach."  


"She's right though, Puck." Mercedes said, making Rachel smile behind Puck's hand. "You were really great."  


"Thanks," Puck mumbled quietly, his gaze shifting over to Kurt. "What did you think?"  


"Hmm," Kurt mused, tapping his chin with his index finger, making Mercedes and Rachel roll their eyes and making Puck even more nervous than he already was. "I think you were great. Really great. You have a talent, Puck."  


Puck's lips curled into a smile, which immediately disappeared when he felt Rachel bite his hand.  


"Ow! You bitch!"  


Mercedes and Kurt started laughing while Rachel scolded him for not letting her breath.  The two friends kept the banter going on between each other, until Kurt cleared his throat.  


"I'm sorry to interrupt this beautiful scene, but I have to go home. I think Mercedes has to as well."  


Mercedes nodded, "That's right, white boy."  


Puck looked at Kurt, "Where are you parked?"  


"Just a few blocks away," Kurt frowned, "Why?"  


Puck nodded, taking his coat, "I'll walk you there. The two ladies can tag along too."  


Mercedes and Rachel giggled at being called 'Ladies', but Kurt didn't look that amused.  


"I'm not a girl."  


"I know," Puck replied, handing Rachel's coat to her out of reflex, getting a grateful smile from her, "I'm just saying that I'm stronger than you if something might happen."  


Kurt raised his eyebrow, "You really think I go out at night and sing here unprepared? Boy, are you wrong."  Puck heard something clinging inside Kurt's satchel and guessing it was tear-gas he couldn't help but smile.  


"Still," he argued with the boy just ’for the fun of it, "I'd rather accompany you all so I'll know you're safe."  


Kurt looked over at Rachel, who wasn’t much help standing there smiling. Mercedes, was even less help, already taking hold of Puck's offered arm.  


He really needs another best friend. Well, he still has Blaine, but...  


Yeah, Blaine would have taken Puck's arm as well. If Puck ever offered it to him of course.  


"Fine," he huffed and started walking to the door, assuming the others would follow him.  


"Sorry that I don't have three arms," Puck called out as Rachel took his other arm and they  followed Kurt out.  


All Kurt did was flip him the finger, which only made Puck and the two girls laugh.  


Yeah, it is really, REALLY fun to tease Kurt Hummel for sure.

**Chapter 6**  
  


Rachel's car was the first on their way, then Mercedes', so it ended with Puck and Kurt walking to the old car that Kurt borrowed from his dad.

Kurt seemed to get more and more nervous, Puck noticed, although he had no idea why.

Puck had seen old man Hummel's car already and Kurt knew that, so what was the big deal?

A few feet away from the car, Kurt stopped walking, making Puck stop as well. He turned to Kurt with a frown on his face.

"What's wrong?"

"I can walk alone from here."

"Kurt..."

"No, Puck, it's fine. It's only a few feet and-"

"What the hell is on the side of your car?"

'Oh damn it," Kurt thought to himself, 'There's no escaping this now...'

"It's nothing..."

"Like hell it is!" Puck exclaimed, moving faster towards the car, Kurt following, slower, behind him.

Puck stopped when he was only one foot away seeing the words "Fag-Wagon" painted all over the left side of the car.

He ’couldn’t stop himself from balling his fists and turning around to Kurt with a furious look on his face.

"Who did this?"

Kurt shrugged, "Does it matter?"

"Yes, it matters!" Puck exclaimed, "You have to report this, Kurt."

Fire lit up Kurt's eyes, "For what? They're only gonna laugh at me. Laugh at the gay kid who has "Fag-wagon" painted on his car. You always laugh at me too. Don't you dare to deny it."

"Kurt," Puck said, his voice much softer than before, "I never laughed at you because you're gay."

"Then why?" Kurt asked, getting louder instead of softer, "Why are you and your friends always laughing at me?"

Puck shrugged, not really knowing how to say it, but figuring it probably couldn’t get any worse between the two of them.

"You have to admit, dude. You're a little on the weird side."

Blood started to boil inside Kurt's veins and his eyes spat fire.

"Then why are you trying to hang out with me? You don't need any help with you're singing, because there's absolutely nothing wrong with what I've just heard. So what's the reason behind this?"

Puck went quiet, kicking some dust of the ground with his foot, staring down almost helplessly.

"Fine," Kurt huffed, taking out his car keys, "Don't bother trying to hang out with me again. I don't want you to catch the weird-ness. Or, God forbid, maybe even the gay-ness." he opened the door on the driver’s side of his car while he glared at the boy next to him, "Goodbye,Puck."

With that he stepped into the car, slammed the door shut, fired up the engine and drove out of the parking lot. Unable to move, Puck just stood there; completely frozen to the spot.

He was so wrong...

Things could get worse for sure. They just had.

"Kurt?" Burt Hummel called down from the top of the stairs of the basement. "Kurt! Come up here for a minute, will you?"

Kurt frowned as he stood up from his piano chair and walked upstairs to find his father standing in front of the window looking out on the front porch.

"Yes, dad?" he asked, "What's wrong?"

Burt turned around to his son, his expression a mix of confusion and amusement.

"Why is there a boy on our driveway cleaning the side of my car?"

Kurt's eyes widened as he rushed over to the window to see for himself, because it really couldn't be, could it?

Yes... Apparently it could.

Oh help him, Gaga...

Without even realizing what he was doing, Kurt rushed to the door and pulled it open with all his force.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Not one but two heads turned to look at him. Blaine had been standing there, staring awestruck watching Puck wash Burt's car.

"Hi to you too," Puck said, eyes turning back to his work, "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"He's washing your dad's car." Blaine supplied, and yes, that's very helpful... Like Kurt hadn't figured that one out yet.

The question was: why?

Why was Noah Puckerman, of all people, washing his dad's car?

Kurt stepped closer to the jock noting the offending word was almost gone. Sure, there were some scratches, but Kurt thought those might've been there already.

"You don't have to do this, Puck." Kurt said quietly, "It's not your fault."

Puck just shrugged and finished his work with one last brush of his hand.

"There, all done. You weren't gonna do anything about it, so I did." he held up his hands when he saw Kurt was going to scold him, or at least protest, "I didn't go to the cops if that's what you're afraid of. I just wanted to get this freaking word off because I don't think your dad would want to drive around in it like you did. That took some serious balls, by the way."

Kurt ducked his head, a soft smile curling up his lips.

"Thanks. You still didn't have to do this."

"I know," Puck replied, standing up and wiping his hands off on his pants, "But I wanted to."

Before the moment got too cheesy, because Heaven forbid, they would start staring in each other's eyes or something; Burt and Blaine walked up beside them.

"Nice job, kid." Burt said, inspecting his car, because yes, Puck HAD washed the whole car to try and make it not too obvious. The scene turned awkward when he asked, "How much do you want me to pay you?"

Kurt looked about ready to explode from embarrassment, while Puck just kept his cool.

"It's cool, Mr. Hummel. You don't have to pay me anything."

"You sure?" Burt asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Yes, sir," Puck nodded, "I was just kind of in debt with Kurt and this was my way to pay him off."

Kurt turned his head away, trying not to blush when Puck winked at him.

"Alright then," Burt said, pocketing his wallet again, "I'm going back inside. You coming, Kurt?"

Kurt was about to say yes, when Puck piped up again.

"Actually, Mr. Hummel, I still have something to ask Kurt, so, if he can stay here just a moment longer..."

Burt nodded and waved to the jock as he went back in the house.

"Um," Puck said, staring at Blaine, "I would like to speak to Kurt. Alone."

Blaine's eyes widened a little in realization, then nodded and held up his hand hopefully.

Puck recognized the gesture and gave the boy a high five.

Blaine's eyes got even wider, if that was possible, then scurried off muttering something about never washing that hand again.

Kurt sighed and shook his head giving Puck an apologetic look. "I'm sorry about that. Blaine might or might not have a little boy crush on you."

For a minute Puck didn't know what to say or how to react. Then he just shrugged.

"It's cool, I guess," he ignored the widening of Kurt's eyes and continued with his question, "What are you doing this afternoon?"

Kurt shuffled his feet a little, staring down at the ground. 

He was just going to stay in his basement and make some music, just like he always did.

He just didn't want to tell Puck that.

"Not much. Just cleaning the house and stuff."

"You can do that later," Puck replied, a smile appearing on his gorgeous face, "Come to the lake with me."

Kurt stared and then blinked at him. "I don't know if that's a good idea..."

"Why not?"

"Because-" Kurt really didn't know what to say and really couldn't think of a good excuse that fast. "I just don't think it's a good idea."

"And I don't think that's a good excuse," Puck replied, raising his eyebrow, "If you don't come up with a good excuse in 5 seconds, you are going to the beach with me."

Puck started counting on his fingers while Kurt racked his brain, trying to find a legit excuse, but he really couldn't find one.

When Puck held up 5 fingers, an almost victorious grin on his face, Kurt sighed, ready to admit defeat for just this once.

"Fine," Kurt huffed, "Pick me up at 1.30."

Puck nodded in agreement, that smirk still in place.

"Alright, Hummel. I see you then." He's walking away, suddenly stopping to shout over his shoulder, "Don't forget to bring some sunblock. Your skin looks like you'd burn easily."

Kurt looked down at his porcelain tinted skin and frowned. How would Puck know he'd burn easily?

Besides, its easy for him because he already has a tan. A freaking gorgeous tan.

Kurt just isn't that lucky.

He watched Puck climb into his truck on the other side of the street, and waved back shyly when Puck waved at him.

As he turned back to the front door of his house, he thought to himself; _'This is such a bad idea.'_

  


** Chapter 7  
  
**

As promised, Puck arrived at Kurt's house at 1.30 in the afternoon.

He grabbed his satchel when he heard a car pull up on the driveway, shouted a quick goodbye to his dad and was out the door before his dad or Blaine could say anything.

Yes, Blaine was at his house, again. He and Kurt were almost like brothers, so it was only normal that he and Burt would watch some sports together, which Kurt didn't have any interest in at all.

Kurt had been jealous at first, seeing his dad and one of his best friends get along so well. Burt had noticed and had talked to him. Assuring him that his "relationship" with Blaine would change nothing between the real father and son relationship they had.

Blaine had talked to him as well. Telling Kurt that if he had to back off, he just had totell him, and he would. Kurt had never had to do that though and Blaine was his best gay, like Mercedes was his best girl.

Puck opened the passenger's side for Kurt and let him climb in and buckle himself up.

"Hey," he said when Kurt seemed ready for the drive, "You've got everything you need?"

Kurt nodded while seeking through his bag, holding up the sunblock and wiggling it in front of Puck's face.

Puck smirked, "Good. Off we go then."

If he noticed Kurt's nervous fidgeting during the ride, Puck didn’t mention it.

For once the radio’s playing good music and Puck hummed along from time to time.

He didn’t know if Kurt felt the same way about the music, but he doubted they had the same taste. He did notice the smaller boy glancing over at him from time to time. And is that a smile playing on his lips?

Yeah. Definitrely a smile. Puck couldn’t help butgrin himself.

At the lake he parked his car in the fairly empy parking lot and killed the engine, unstrapped his seatbelt and got out of the car.

He grabbed his bag from the backseat and straightened back up, as Kurt jumped out of the car.

"How long do you expect us to stay here?" Kurt asked looking around at the yet un-opened fair.

"As long as you'd like," Puck said, walking towards the lake, "We don't have to wait until the fair opens if you don't want. We can just have a walk around the lake, grab something to eat and go home."

Kurt smiled, finding it sweet that Puck had apparently really thought about this.

It was almost like a date... Yeah, almost.

Well, on second thought...Kurt still didn't know why Puck asked him to go to the lake.

Kurt waited until they had walked a little closer to the lake until he asked the question that had been bothering him.

"Why did you bring me here?"

Puck shrugged,staring out over the lake with his hands tucked into his pockets.

"Just wanted to hang out with you and thought you would like it here. Who doesn't like the lake, right?"

Puck just kept on surprising Kurt in a good way. But still...

"Oh, I like the lake," Kurt replied, then added more quietly, "I just don't get why you want to hang out with me."

Puck looked at Kurt for a minute before he smirked.

"Relax, Hummel. Don't ask so many questions and just let go for a while. Maybe I want to hang out wth you. To show you a little of the wild side of life."

"Oh," Kurt blinked, "But, I thought you said I was weird."

"Because you are weird," Puck held up his hand before Kurt could reply anything, "But I never said I had a problem with weird."

Kurt just stared at Puck, his face breaking out into a grin when the latter raised his eyebrow at him.

"No, I guess you didn't."

Puck grinned back , "So, are we gonna take a walk?"

"Sure," Kurt replied, falling into step with Puck.

"Have you ever been here before?" Puck asked, trying to get a conversation going.

Kurt nodded, "A few times."

"Oh. I come here quite a lot actually."

Kurt looked over at Puck with a curious look on his face. "You do?"

"Yeah," Puck breathed out, "I come here to think about stuff.'"

"Like what?" Kurt just couldn't help but to get even more curious now.

Puck shrugged, "Just stuff."

Ok, so Puck didn't want to talk about it. Kurt could understand that because he had a lot he didn't want to talk about either.

They walked in silence for a while before Puck stopped and stared at the ground.

"What's wrong?" Kurt asked, stopping right next to him.

"Do you ever feel like you're trapped here? Well, not here, I mean in Lima."

Kurt nodded, "All the time. Why?"

Puck sighed, still not meeting Kurt's eyes but instead staring off in the distance.

"My mom doesn't want me to leave after I graduate. She doesn't even want to discuss it. She doesn't leave me a choice."

"You always have a choice, Puck." Kurt replied, "Why doesn't she want you to leave?"

Kurt saw Puck's shoulders tense as he gritted out between his teeth,his hands at his sides balled into fists, "It's none of your business."

Well, that was a bit rude wasn't it? Besides, he was the one who started the subject.

"It's fine if you don't want to talk about it. Just don't take your built up anger, or whatever it is your feeling towards your mother, out on me."

That seemed to pull Puck out of whatever trance he had been in.

"It's not really anger...It's just...Nevermind."

Kurt nods, knowing when to drop an obviously painful subject and gestured forward with his hand.

"Shall we continue our walk then?"

Puck just nods, giving Kurt a half-smile before tucking his hands back into his pockets and following Kurt on their walk.

It was back to silence then, but neither of them really minded. It was kind of peaceful.

"I know a nice little restaurant here in town if you're hungry." Puck finally broke the silence.

Kurt looked down at his stomach when it suddenly made a rumbling sound at hearing the word food.

Puck chuckled as Kurt blushed, looked up and admitted,"I could eat."

Smiling, Pucklead the way to an upscale diner. They ordered their drinks and then looked over the menu.

When the waitress got back with their drinks, they had decided on their food. Kurt ordered a salad with a light dressing, insisting on it being light, getting a chuckle from Puck, while Puck went for a burger with fries.

Kurt wrinkled his nose a little when he thought about all the grease in that burger, but it was not like he never ate junk food. Just in smaller proportions and probably not as much as Puck.

Still his eyes were drawn to the plate of fries and when Puck noticed it he pushed the plate closer to him and raised his eyebrow.

"You can steal some fries if you want."

Kurt gave a small smile in thanks and popped a fry into his mouth.

They had a bit of small talk about school during their dinner while Kurt absentmindedly snatched one fry after the other, much to Puck's amusement.

"I can ask for some more if you want." 

At Kurt's confused frown, Puck gestured to the almost empty plate with the fries and Kurt's eyes widened.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize I ate so much of them."

Puck chuckled, "It's alright. I'll just order some extra."

"No, you don't have to-" Kurt tried to protest but Puck's hand was already raised in the air to wave the waitress over.

Puck ordered an extra portion fries and smiled at Kurt when she sauntered away to get it.

"I'm not that hungry, you know." Kurt said meekly, "It’s just because we were talking and those fries were in my reach."

Puck chuckled, "It's alright. You could use some extra weight anyway."

Kurt raised his eyebrow, "No, thank you. I feel fine the way I am. Besides, it's not like I'm that skinny."

He didn't know why he was talking about his weight with Noah Puckerman of all people, but well, here he was.

They spent the rest of the dinner mostly in silence. Trying not to react to the looks they got from some people.

It was alright for two girls to go out to dinner together, but the unusual pairing of the two boys seemed to draw strange looks.

When Puck asked for the bill, Kurt insisted on paying half the check.

The sun was still shining when they walked out of the restaurant and Kurt suddenly remembered something.

"Puck?"

"Hm?"

"Why did I have to bring sunblock?"

Puck's lips curled up into a small smile, "I was thinking about taking you to the beach instead of the lake as a surprise, but the drive would be way too long and we wouldn't have time to do much there before we head to go back home. I'd say we could take a dive in the lake, but..."

"No, thank you." Kurt gave exactly the answer Puck thought he would give.

"That's what I thought. So, what do you want to do now? Go to the fair or head back home?"

Kurt pondered about it for a minute. Letting a few pro's and cons float through his brain.

Eventually, the pro's won and he gave into his curiosity to how it would be like to go to a fair with the head jock of the school.

"The fair sounds nice."

"Ok," Puck replied, unable to keep the smile from his face, "The fair it is then."

As they walked back towards the fair at the lake,the streetlights came on creating an almost romantic atmosphere.

At the fair, Kurt was surprised to see Puck acting like a child in a candy shop.

He ran from booth to booth, winning a prize everywhere he went.

He won a big teddy bear with a letter jacket and gave it to Kurt without a second thought.

"I'm not going to walk around with your prizes in my arms, Puck."

"It's yours," Puck replied,"You can keep the bear."

Kurt blinked, "Oh. Thanks... I guess."

"No problem."

"Is it stupid if I,give the bear a name?"

Puck shrugged, "You can do whatever you like. What would you like to call him then?"

Kurt stared at the bear for a moment, thinking about this day with Puck and that maybe...Just maybe there was a chance they could become friends.

Maybe this was a stupid move, but...

"I think I'll call him Noah."

The smile that appeared on Puck's face just warmed up Kurt's heart. It was so sweet and genuine.

He had never seen a smile more beautiful than Puck’s at that moment.

Puck was about to say something when he suddenly heard the voice he really didn't want to hear.

"Puckerman!"

Kurt tensed at the boom of Dave Karofsky’s voice.

He was the person who Kurt despised the most at school and he was pretty certain the feeling was mutual.

Before Puck really knew what was going on, Karofsky wrapped an arm around his shoulder and was half leaning against him.

"Your mother told us you were at the fair. She didn't tell us you had company, though."

Puck cursed under his breath. Why did this asshole have to show up here? 

And apperently, he didn't come alone. Sam, Finn, Brittany and Santana were all looming behind him.

Puck couldn't help but think that he was lucky they didn't bring Quinn along as well.

Sam and Finn where his bro's and he had fucked both Brittany and Santana so he could handle them better than he could handle his recent ex-girlfriend.

And Karofsky? Well, he just had to have his way, didn't he...

He looked over at Brittany and Santana, who suddenly approached Kurt and both girls grabbed one of his arms, making Karofsky smirk.

"You girls go have a little girl talk, while we boys talk business."

Kurt was ready to snap back that he wasn't a girl and that he was here with Puck. More importantly, he wanted to say that he didn't have the right to order anyone around like that.

The words died on his tongue as Santana and Brittany pulled him as far away from Puck and the other three boys as possible.

He looked over his shoulder at Puck with an almost pleading look, but Puck seemed to ignore him, which really, really hurt.

He didn't know why it hurt exactly. It's not like they were friends or anything.

But Kurt had hoped that they could become friends, and now that hope was slowly fading away.

"So," Dave said, his eyes twinkling with mischief, "Are you planning a date yet with the fairy? Or is this the date?"

"Fuck you, Karofsky." Puck snarled through gritted teeth, "This isn't a date and I'm not planning on taking him on a date either."

"Aw, you're gonna break his poor little heart already?"

"What the hell is your problem?" Puck snapped, having enough of Karofsky's childish taunts.

Finn and Sam, who both had been remarkably quiet, flinched at Puck's outburst. They couldn't blame him though. Karofsky was being a jerk. As usual.

"I don't have a problem," Dave smiled, "But you might have. You do remember our bet, don't you?"

"Of course I do."

"Well...The bet is you make the person I chose for you your girl- I mean, your boyfriend."

Puck's jaw dropped just a little bit and he flung himself away from Karofsky, who stumbled a little when he had no one to lean against anymore.

"I'm not gonna make him my boyfriend, dude." Puck exclaimed, "I'm not gay."

"You should have thought about that sooner. Like, before you agreed to the bet."

"I didn't think the whole lover thing would still count."

Karofsky made a tsk-ing sound, shaking his head. "Then you should have asked me about it."

"I'm not doing it."

"Then you lose the bet."

"Whatever. If I make him Prom King, I'd still have won one part of the bet."

"King?" Karofsky asked in fake surprise, "I thought you said you could make anyone Prom Queen."

"He's a dude, so I'm making him Prom King."

"That means you won't be Prom King after all..."

"Whatever," Puck shrugged, "I'm popular enough. Even after my break up with Q, I'm still the biggest badass in whole McKinley High."

Sam and Finn both high fived him while Karofsky just rolled his eyes at them.

"We'll see what will happen..."

Before Puck could ask what the fuck he meant by that, they heard a girl clear her throat. The boys turned their heads and faced a pissed off Santana, a pouting Briitany and an angry Kurt, clutching his teddy bear, all standing there.

"If you guys are done talking "business"," Santana spat, making airquotes with her fingers, "I want to leave. It's no fun if that queer doesn't want to drop that stupid teddy bear to go into an attraction."

"I'm not gonna let it get stolen!" Kurt snapped at her.

"You can always win another one!"

"Please, stop fighting." Brittany whispered softly, "I don't like it when people fight."

Santana's face softened and she walked over to her best friend, linking pinkies with her.

"We're almost done," Karofsky spoke to Santana, then turned back to Puck, who had now moved over to Kurt's side for some reason, "Sam's holding a party tomorrow night."

"I am?" Sam asked, looking utterly confused.

"Your parents are gone, dude." Finn piped up with a huge grin on his face, "Of course you're holding a party."

Sam shrugged and smiled a little uncomfortably, "I guess I am, then."

"You two are coming, right?" Karofsky asked Kurt and Puck as if there hadn't been an interruption.

Puck looked over at Kurt, who suddenly looked more determined than he had ever looked before and gave him a nod, before turning back to Karofsky.

"We'll be there."

"Great!" Karofsky exclaimed with a slap on Puck's shoulder, "See you two lovebirds there."

With a wink to Puck, Karofsky left, Santana and Brittany following him.

Finn and Sam both said quick goodbyes before following the other three out of there.

When Puck looked back in Kurt's direction, the smaller boy was frowning and staring at the teddy bear in his arms.

"Hummel?" Kurt seemed to snap out of his daze and looked up at the other boy, "What's wrong?"

"Why does he always have to mock me like that?" Kurt asked quietly, "Lovebirds...You're not even gay. We're not even friends..."

"We could be," Puck said just as quietly, unconsciously taking a step closer to Kurt, "I would like to be your friend."

"Why?" 

Puck shrugged, but didn't break eye contact with Kurt as he answered, "Because today was kind of fun and I liked spending some time with you. Ok, that just sounded weird..."

"No," Kurt's voice suddenly sounded happier, more hopeful. "I liked spending time with you too."

"Yeah?" Puck's face lit up into a smile, a real one, at Kurt's nod, "So, can we call each other friends then?"

Kurt smiled back and held out his right hand, still holding the other bear under his left arm, "Friends."

Puck shook Kurt's hand, jumping a little when he felt the jolt of electricity run through him. Judging on the look on Kurt's face, he had felt the same.

The boys stood in awkward silence, holding onto each other’s hand far longer than was called for, but neither of them seemed to care.

It was Kurt, not Puck, who finally started pulling back his hand ever so slowly. Both boys stared at their once connected hands.

Puck cleared his throat after a minute and Kurt forced himself to look up.

"Wha-" Puck cleared his throat, "What would you like to do now?"

Kurt shrugged lightly, staring down at his feet. "I don't know."

"Would you like to go home?" It didn't get lost on Puck that Kurt's hold on the teddy bear tightened once again, "Or would you like to stay here for a little longer?"

Kurt looked back up, a small smile lighting up his face. "Staying sounds nice."

"Then we stay." Puck stated, starting to walk ahead, but stopping when he noticed Kurt wasn't following him. "Kurt?"

Puck didn't know why he suddenly used the boys' first name, but hey, he had, and it felt pretty easy to say.

If the sparkle in Kurt's eyes was anything to go on, he more than liked it.

"I'm just...Thinking."

"About what?"

"Nothing special."

"Kurt."

Another sparkle in those eyes, then a sigh from his mouth.

"Santana said something to me...Something strange."

"What did she say?"

"It's really not important."

"Kurt, come on."

"Something about me having to watch out for Quinn."

Puck frowned, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Kurt shrugged lightly, "I really don't know."

"Hmm."

"I don't want to think about it now either. Can we just go and have some more fun?"

Puck smirked and slung his arm over Kurt's shoulder, his bag of prizes clasped in the other.

"Let's go."

If Kurt just leaned that little bit harder into Puck's side as they walked around the rest of the fair, neither of them said anything about it.

When they had done their tour and Puck brought Kurt home, it was a little awkward for a moment.

Puck didn't know what he should do. Should he walk Kurt to the door or not?

First of all, Kurt had made it clear that he wasn't a girl. Secondly, this wasn't a date, so Puck didn't want to push any buttons that didn't need to be pushed.

"I um," Kurt softly spoke up, "I really had a nice time today."

"So did I," Puck replied with a small smile, "So, I’ll pick you up tomorrow night at 8 to go to the party, alright?"

Kurt sighed. He had forgotten about that.... As confident as he looked at the fair, it was all an act and he really didn't want to go.

"I don't think I can go."

"Why not?"

"We're starting our summer clean in the house and-"

"Kurt," Puck interrupted, "I think your cleaning can be done during the day, right? And if it's not done, you can always continue the next day."

"I don't think-"

"Don't you dare say it isn't a good idea, because I'm just gonna ask you to give me a good enough excuse, the cleaning stuff won't do, and we both know where that will lead to, don't we?"

Kurt sighed again, staring out of the window at his front door. "I should go."

He opened the door and just heard Puck call out a, "See you tomorrow," before slamming the door closed and walking to his house.

Puck decided to wait until Kurt got inside his house before turning the engine of his car back on to drive home himself.

Kurt walked into the house, his dad called for him from the living room. Kurt reluctantly walked in to talk to his dad.

His dad wasn't alone. Blaine was still there."Hey dad, Blaine." He greeted both men.

"How did it go?"

"It was ok. We had fun."

"Yeah? No funny stuff happened?"

"Dad!" Kurt said indignantly, "It wasn't a date. Plus, you should know me better by now."

He raised his eyebrow at his father, making Burt let out a sigh of relief. But then he caught sight of the teddy bear, trapped under his son's arm.

"What's up with the bear?"

Kurt blinked, then looked down at the bear and held it up a little higher.

"What, this? It's a bear I won at one of the ball throwing boots. You know, the ones were you have to throw balls to knock down cans."

His father seemed to buy it, but he didn't risk looking at Blaine because he could already feel his intense stare burning through him.

"Well, I'm gonna go to bed.. See you two tomorrow."

He gave his dad and his friend a quick hug, then retreated quickly downstairs to his room in the basement, right nextto his music room.

He put the teddy bear, Noah, on his bed while he disappeared into his adjoining bathroom to change into his pajamas.

When he came back into his room, he sat himself down in front of his dresser to do his moisturizing routine like he did every night.

Now though, his eyes kep glancing over to the reflection of the teddy bear inside the mirror and he couldn't stop his lips from curling into a smile.

Who knew a boy would ever win a big teddy bear for him? And, more importantly so, that said boy would be Noah Puckerman to boot.

Absolutely no one.

He climbed into his bed and grabbed Noah the teddy bear, holding it tight into his arms, not caring at all that it was a total girl-like thing to do.

As he drifted off to sleep, his conversation with Santana was still running through his mind.

_"You'd better watch out for Quinn."_

_"Excuse me?"_

_"If you want to hang out with Puck, you'll have to watch out for her. She doesn’t like anyone taking things taken away from her."_

_"She broke up with him. Plus, Puck isn't gay. She has nothing to worry about."_

_"Not everything is what it seems."_

  
**Chapter 8  
  
  
**

Kurt ignored all of Puck's calls the next day and when his dad would pick up the phone, Kurt would shout "Tell him I'm not here."

His dad simply raised his eyebrows, but didn't ask questions. He knew his son wouldn't answer them anyway.

Blaine tried to answer the phone a few times,(the guy was still around,) but Kurt always beat him to it.

He had, however, taken a call from Mercedes who scolded him for not going to the party with Puck as all he would be doing was watching his dad scream wrong answers to Jeopardy on tv.

It wasn't until 2 in the afternoon that the phonecalls from Puck stopped and Kurt started breathing a little easier.

His relief was shortlived when the doorbell rang and he opened the door to find an absolutely flawless looking Noah Puckerman.

"Hey," Puck said, "I brought some help with me."

Kurt blinked, "Help?"

"Yeah, for the cleaning."

Before Kurt could reply Puck pushed the door open wider letting in a few guys who walked in past Kurt and Puck.

"Is- Is that the basketball team?"

"Yeah, it is." Puck said proudly, "I talked them into helping you out."

'More like threatened them probably' Kurt thought to himself.

Puck didn't spend more time talking with Kurt, just walked inside and started ordering the basketball players around.

Kurt started to close the door when a little girl popped up in front of him.

"Kurt, meet my sister Sarah."

Kurt jumped a little when he heard Puck's voice behind him, not realizing he had snuck up on him. 

"Hi," Sarah greeted him,doing a little courtesy.

Kurt smiled and made a small bow in return, "It's nice to meet you, little lady."

"I asked her to come with me to help you find an outfit. She might only be 10 years old, but she's got a very good sense of fashion."

"What do I need an outfit for?"

"The party, remember?"

"Oh," Kurt replied, sounding a little...off. Puck didn't know why.

"You are still coming with me, right? I didn't ask the basketball team to clean the house for nothing."

Kurt didn't really know what to say since the whole cleaning thing had been just an excuse to not have to go to the party.

Puck saw through it of course and had just taken the basketball team up to Kurt's house to show him he wasn't playing around. 

He really wanted Kurt there at the party with him. Even if he didn't really know why exactly, he just wanted him there.

Kurt looked around. His dad was talking to one of the basketball players, while Blaine was flirting with another. Kurt finally looked back at Puck who was standing with his sister beside him, waiting for an answer.

"Fine," Kurt finally sighed and held out his hand to Sarah, "Come on, I'll show you my clothes so you can help me pick something out."

Puck smiled triumphantly, then looked around at what his boys were doing. Instead of helping them, he sat down on the un-occupied sofa and watched the show on the T.V.

He just hoped Kurt and Sara wouldn't take too long. He wanted to grab something to eat before they went to Sam's house and he wasn't really up for a dinner at the Hummel's residence.

Finally, after more than half an hour of waiting and awkward small talk with Burt and Blaine, Puck heard someone walk down the stairs.

Suddenly Sarah appeared at the doorway with a wide, bright grin on her face.

"He's ready!" 

"Well, let him come down then." 

Sarah nodded and ran back to the stairs, "Kurt Hummel, get your cute ass down here!"

Ok, so it was a little obvious that the girl had picked up some things from her big brother, who cared?

A few seconds later, Puck heard a second pair of footsteps on the stairs and he stood and moved to lean just inside the doorway. Blaine followed him, stopping a little behind as they both stared up the staircase.

Puck almost did a double take when Kurt finally came into view because he just looked gorgeous.

Not that Puck usually paid attention to how guys looked, but Kurt was too beautiful not to notice.

"And?" Sarah’s voice pulled him out of his haze, "What do you think?"

Puck smiled down at his sister and ruffled up her hair a bit with his hand.

"I knew you wouldn't let me down."

Sarah beamed before straightening her hair again. She was gonna be such a diva when she got to high school. Puck could already see himself threatening to beat up some guy if he would ever break his little sister's heart.

Then, Kurt stumbled on the second to last step and Puck rushed forward, catching him by the arm.

Kurt just hung there for a moment, his forehead resting on Puck's shoulder, then straightened up again, giving Puck a shy smile.

"Sorry," he looked down at his shoes, "I just need to get used to these."

Puck looked down at the shoes and noted they were actually boots with heels.

"He stuffed them way in the back of his closet, but I found them." Sarah piped up proudly.

Suddenly Burt was standing there too and Puck ’couldn’t help but feel relieved that the basketball team had left a little while ago, claiming that everything was clean.

"Where are you going?"

Kurt rolled his eyes, taking the last two steps down ’and stood on the floor.

"I told you, dad. I'm going to a party with Puck."

Burt nodded, his eyes glancing over from one boy to the other. "This isn't a date, right?"

Kurt groaned, Blaine snorted, Sarah looked confused, Puck tried to stifle his laughter and Burt just kept on staring at his embarassed son.

"Well?"

"No, sir," Puck decided to save Kurt, "It's not a date. A friend of mine is holding a party and I just asked Kurt to come along because I want him to have some fun."

Burt glared at the mohawked boy, trying to intimidate him. Puck remained unfazed. Or at least it seemed that way, outwardly.

"Ok," Burt finally said, "You kids go and have fun." 

Kurt all but ran out of the door and Puck followed him, until Burt's voice stopped him once more.

"Thanks for the cleaning team. How much does it cost?"

Puck looked over his shoulder, "Nothing. It was all for free."

Burt frowned at him, "You certainly must be in a lot of debt with my son."

Puck stiffened and glanced over at Kurt, who was already climbing into his unlocked truck, then back to Burt.

"Yeah, something like that." 

"You bring my son home before 1 am alright?"

Puck nodded, "Will do. Bye, sir."

Then Puck rushed to the truck as well, sliding quickly into the driver’s seat.

Kurt looked nervous, just like when Puck took him to the lake the day before.

"Hey," Puck said and waited until Kurt turned his head to look at him. "It's gonna be fine, you know."

Kurt gave him a tight smile and nodded once before turning his head back to stare out of the window again.

Puck sighed and started the truck, deciding to just drive around for a while in the hopes of loosening Kurt up. Puck really hoped he would so they could grab a bite somewhere and then, last but not least, they would go to Sam's party.

If Sam wasn't one of Puck's best friends, he wouldn't have gone. Not like this.

He has a strange feeling in his stomach’that nothing good would happen. 

But he just decided to ignore it... Just like he always did.

When they got to the party, the house was pretty full, which Puck had already guessed because he had to park his truck a few blocks away. As he and Kurt walked a few steps inside the house a blond girl all but threw herself on Kurt. Of course, it had to be Brittney.

"Kurt!"

"Um, hey, Britt." 

Brittney spotted Puck beside Kurt and let go of the boy, throwing herself at the jock this time.

Puck chuckled, "It's good to see you too, Britt."

"Can I steal Kurtie from you?" Brittany asked when she pulled back, "Only for a couple of minutes."

Puck looked over at Kurt to see his reaction since he really didn't want to decide in the other boy's place.

Kurt looked a little surprised but curious about why Brittney would want to talk to him.

He caught Puck's gaze and nodded.

"Alright," Puck said, chuckling when Brittney clapped her hands excitedly and grabbed Kurt's arm to drag him away. "Bring him back safe!" He called after her just to annoy Kurt.

He could picture Kurt rolling his eyes without even seeing him doing it. Maybe it was a little weird, but hey.

He didn't have time to dwell any further on that thought when he felt several bumps against his shoulder. He nodded a greeting at Sam and Finn as an arm circled his shoulders.

"What do you want, Karofsky?" Puck growled. 

"So you brought him with you." Karofsky stated simply.

"I thought you asked him to come."

"I did," Karofsky answered, a smug smirk creeping up on his face, "But I didn't expect him to come. Seems like you really got under the boy's skin."

Puck frowned, "What do you mean."

"I mean that-"

The rest of Karofsky's sentence was cut off by a loud, shrilly scream and everyone looked around to see which girl was in trouble.

Turned out that it wasn't a girl... It was Kurt, standing there dripping wet from a slushie. 

When Puck saw the blond girl in front of Kurt, he felt his heartbeat raise up, because he didn't need to see her face to know who it was.

He pushed Karofsky's arm off of him and made it to the scene as Kurt barked, "Thank you."

Quinn, of course it was her, frowned in confusion, "Excuse me?"

Standing between a very shocked looking Brittney and Santana, Kurt snipped, "Thank you. For a minute there, I forgot why I avoid places like this and people like you."

"Avoid us?" Quinn scoffed, "Look around you, honey. to everyone here who matters, you’re vapor, a waste of space. Nothing’s going to change that." Kurt's fierce expression faltered and Puck started pushing people away to get closer to them as Quinn mock gasped, "Oh, you're not gonna cry, are you?"

Kurt held his ground for a moment, then ducked his head and ran. The whimpering sound that left his mouth just about broke Puck's heart a little.

He ran after the boy, pushing people out of his way, and found him kneeling on the ground in the parking lot, his teardrops hitting the asphalt.

Puck hurried over to Kurt, then dropped down next to him. He wanted to pull him into a hug, but he didn't think Kurt would want that right now so he just stuck close to him instead.

"Are you alright?" Ok, so that was a stupid question. But what else do you say after something like that happens?

Kurt shook his head, tears still streaming over his cheeks, "I-I promised myself…I’d never…" he shook his head again and choked out the next part, "I’d never let them see me cry…"

Puck couldn't help but reach out a hand to him, "It's ok..."

Kurt pulled away, "No, Puck, it's not ok. I never should've come here."

Puck sat back, staring at the broken boy in front of him. Then he drew in a breath to talk.

"Kurt...We were having fun yesterday and today." Puck watched Kurt bite his bottom lip, staring at the ground and wiping at his eyes, "YOU were having fun." Kurt sobbed out a laugh and Puck reached out again to gently rub his back. "Sometimes when you open up to people, you let the bad in with the good...that’s all."

Kurt just breathed in and out a few times before slowly looking up at Puck.

"I want to go home."

Puck nodded, stood up and held out a hand to help Kurt up. They walked to the car together, Puck still holding onto Kurt's hand without realizing to it.

When they got to the truck, Puck opened the door and picked up a box of tissues off the backseat floor and gave them to Kurt to wipe his face as good as he could. He also gave him a bottle of water so he could wash out his eyes.

Kurt was shaking and the cold liquid on his shirt didn't help with the chilly night air.

Puck took off his letterman jacket and without any form of warning, draped it over Kurt's shoulders.

As soon as he could see a little better, Kurt turned his head to look at Puck, one eyebrow raised.

Puck shrugged, not really meeting Kurt's eyes as he explained his action.

"You were shivering. Thought I'd give you something to keep you warm."

Kurt's lips curled up into a small smile, "Thank you."

"No prob," Puck answered, ducking his head to hide his own smile. "I'll take you home now."

Kurt nodded, balling the used tissues up and threw them on the backseat floor of the truck like Puck instructed him to do, then crawled into the passenger seat. 

The drive to Kurt's house was silent, just like all the other times the shared time in Puck's car, but this time it felt a little uncomfortable.

Puck kept on glancing over at Kurt with worry in his eyes, while Kurt just stared out of his window.

When Puck drove up Burt Hummel's driveway and parked, the silence was deafening without the engine noise or radio.

They just sat there, both staring out of the front window until Kurt sighed, unbuckled his seatbelt and started fumbling to open the door.

"I'm sorry."

Kurt stopped and turned his head towards the jock. "What?"

Puck took a deep breath, carding a hand through his mohawk irritatedly. 

"I'm sorry for what happened. I'm sorry I wasn't there to stop her. I-"

Kurt held up his hand to stop Puck's babbling, "Noah, stop." 

Puck's eyes widened at the boy calling him by his first name for the very first time. It sounded nice to his ears.

Kurt seemed to notice and repeated the name, "Noah, this isn't your fault."

"I shouldn't have pushed you to come with me."

"You didn't push that hard..."

"Oh, come on, Kurt. I took the whole basketball team here to your house to clean the place up just so you wouldn't give it as an excuse to not having to go to the party with me. That is pushing hard in my eyes."

Kurt's face softened and he smiled almost shyly, "It was a nice thing to do, and...I actually felt kind of flattered."

"That I let the boys help you do the cleaning?"

"No," Kurt answered with a shake of his head, "That you asked me out to the party. It was almost like-"

"Like a date?"

"Yeah," Kurt whispered softly, looking away from the jock again, "But it wasn't..."

"I wouldn't let a date end like that, Kurt."

"You're not mad at me for thinking of it as an almost date?"

Puck laughed and Kurt noticed it wasn't the kind of mocking laugh people sometimes used against him. It was a genuine laugh and Kurt really liked the sound of it.

"Now you're flattering me that you would even want to consider having a date with me."

Puck threw in a wink after that, making Kurt blush.

"Very funny, Noah."

"Just fooling around. You know I don't mean any harm with it."

Kurt stared into Puck's warm brown eyes before nodding slowly.

"Yes, I know." then he reached for the door again, opening it this time and stepping out of the car before turning back to the boy in the driver's seat, "Goodnight, Noah."

" 'Night Kurt."

Kurt walked towards the front door of his house, noticing that Puck hadn't left yet. He turned around and gave a little wave before disappearing inside the house.

He knew his father was still up by the flickering light of the television that shone into the hallway.

He took a deep breath and braced himself for his father's questions as he walked inside the living room.

"Hey dad,"

Burt turned his head and raised his eyebrow at his son. "You're home early."

Kurt shrugged, "The party wasn't that fun."

"Did something happen?"

"No. What could have happened?"

Burt's mouth twitched a little, "Then why are you wearing a football jacket instead of your own coat from whatever designer it is?"

Kurt froze, staring down at himself and Puck's too large for him letterman jacket.

"I forgot my coat and instead of going back there, Puck lent me his. They'll probably give me my coat back in school."

Well, Kurt could hope they would. Otherwise he would have to buy another one, without his dad noticing of course.

His father stared at him for a little while and Kurt stared right back at him. Finally he relented. "Ok," Burt nodded, "Do you want to talk or something?"

You could say a lot about Burt, but he knew his son, and he knew when something was wrong or bothering him.

Kurt looked away and sighed, shaking his head he answered, "No, I'm fine. I'm just gonna go to bed."

"That mohawked punk didn't hurt you, did he?"

"No, dad. Noah didn't hurt me." He ignored his father's raised eyebrows at the use of “Noah” instead of the usual “Puck.” "He's been really nice to me, really. Now, if you'll excuse, I'm gonna go find my bed and sleep. Good night dad."

Kurt was already at the door to the basement when he heard the low rumble of his father's voice, "Goodnight, son."

After his whole moiturizing routine, Kurt changed into his pajama pants and sleeping shirt, then looked over at Puck’s jacket draped over a chair.

He hesitated for a second before walking over and taking the jacket off the chair and slipping it on.

He crawled into his bed, sniffing the collar and noting it smelled like Puck. 

He didn't know how exactly he knew what Puck smelled like, but this boyish odor on the jacket must defenitely be it.

He pulled Noah the teddy bear to his chest and soon drifted off to sleep.

Brown-hazel eyes following him into his dreams making him smile.

  
**Chapter 9**

The next few days in school are mostly dull and completely uneventful for Kurt, except for the fact that Puck now waits for him before school and always walks him to his locker.  

It's kind of weird, but on the other hand it isn't.  

They really had started to build up a friendship, which didn't go unnoticed. 

Whenever they walked through the hallways of McKinley High together eyes followed them everywhere; not only students but teachers too.  

Puck didn't seem to care though. He just walked around with that confident swagger like he always did, while Kurt was a little more subdued.  


He was afraid this would all backfire on Puck one day and he really, really didn't want that to happen.   


He knew what it was like to be ridiculed and pushed around. He really wanted to spare Puck from all that drama.  


Kurt even gave him an out on many occasions, saying "I can easily walk on my own to class."  

Still Puck waved him off, assuring Kurt he liked walking and talking with him, so who was Kurt to deny him that? Because really Kurt liked the little walks and talks too.

 Maybe a little more than he should...  


It just had to escalate one day... And that day came earlier than he expected.

 

 

 

  


 

"Congratulations, Kurt!"  Kurt looked around the door of his locker, right into the beaming face of Rachel Berry, and frowned.  


"Congratulations for what?"  


"You mean you don't know?"  


"No?" Kurt said confused, "What the hell are you babbling about?"  


"Come on!" Rachel said tugging Kurt along with her, stopping in front of a large poster on one of the walls in the hallway. "Look!"  


Kurt's eyes went comically wide and his jaw dropped.  Knowing it wasn't a good look on him so he quickly tried to compose himself.

 "Who the hell would nominate ME for Prom King?!"  


Ok, so the composing thing didn't really work.  


Suddenly Rachel was pulled away from him and Kurt felt the hands of Santana and Brittany link through his arms.  


"Congrats, Hummel." Santana said while Brittany just beamed at him.  


"Thanks," Kurt mumbled, then snapped out of his daze, "Did you two sign me up?"  


"Why would we do that?" Santana asked innocently, then rolled her eyes at Kurt's glare, "No, Hummel. We didn't."  


"Then who did?"  


Santana shrugged, "Who cares. You are so coming along with us on a shopping trip, then to the spa, and-" Kurt stopped walking, just now realizing that they were walking, making the other two girls stop as well.

 

"Why are you being so nice to me? First you bring me back my coat after that horrible "incident" at the party and now this?"

  


It's actually Brittany who answered that, "We're kind of sick of hanging around with Quinn."  


"Yeah," Santana chimed in, "She and that stupid boyfriend of hers. They're just disgusting me."  


"What do they do then?"  


"They drink themselves stupid and they're constantly kissing and licking each other off. It's just gross."  


"We'd like to hang out with you and Puck now," Brittany again.  


"Hey, Kurt! Wait up!" The trio turned around to watch Puck jogging up to them.  


"Hey Puck," Kurt greeted him, feeling both of the girls retract their arms.  He sent them a questioning look.  


"We have to get to class," Santana answered, "We'll see you boys later."  


Both girls gave a little wave as they sauntered off to class, Puck giving them a nod, while Kurt gave them a small wave back.  


"So," Puck said, looking nervous with his hands stuffed into his pockets and not quite meeting Kurt's eyes. "I guess you saw the poster."  


Kurt nodded, "I did," then an awful feeling came up, "It wasn't you who signed me up, was it?"  


"No!" Puck answered, almost too quickly, "No, Kurt, I didn't sign you up. I promise."  


Kurt stared at Puck saw nothing but the truth in his eyes.  "Alright. I believe you."  


Puck let out a breath of relief and as they both started walking to their History class that they shared together, he relaxed visibly.

 "You look pretty upset about it."  


"About being nominated for Prom King?" Puck nodded at Kurt's question, "That's because it's just a joke; a pretty mean one to boot. I mean, there's no way I could ever win it."  


"Why not?"  


Kurt snorted, "Have you ever really looked at me? Ok, scratch that.  Look... I'm not popular, like, at all. Whoever wrote me up probably just did it to give everyone a good laugh."  


"You look pretty good to me," Kurt raised his eyebrow and Puck raised one hand to scratch at the back of his neck, "Ok, this is awkward. I guess I just want to say that you could actually win this if you try."  


Kurt blinked, then he started laughing, loud and almost uncontrolled.  

Puck looked around, seeing people start to stop and stare at them, he got even more uncomfortable than he already felt.  


"Oh, Puck," Kurt wheezed through his laughter, "You're so funny."  


"Not meant to be funny, but ok, if you'd like to talk yourself down like that." Puck answered irritated.  


Kurt sighed and shook his head, "Have you forgotten about the infamous party at Sam's house?"  


Puck winced a little, how could he ever forget that?  


"No, of course I haven't, but Kurt that was just Quinn having one of her tantrums. You shouldn't believe everything she says. Believe me, I know."  


"What has she ever said about you?"    


Puck's jaw tightened, just like the muscles in his arms and shoulders.  "She said I'm a Lima loser who'll never get out of this freaking cow town. She's right about me, though."  


"Why?" Kurt asked, both boys forgetting about going to History class and entering an empty classroom instead.  


"Because I have to stay here for my mom and little sister."  


"Are they sick?"  


"No," Puck laughed nervously, "No, they're not sick."  


"Then why would you have to stay?"  


Puck let out a sigh, slumping down on one of the desks.  

"My dad left us when I was 7. Ever since then my mom has been threatening me to never leave her as well because she wouldn't be able to handle it. She doesn't want me to go far away for college while I'm dying to get as far away from here as I can, but... I don't want to be the cause of my mother's death."  


"I'm sure it won't get that far..."  


"You don't know my mom."  


"No... But I think she's just so afraid of losing you that she's trying to scare you from not leaving town. You should try and talk to her. Sit her down and tell her you'll still be in touch with her even though you won't be living at home anymore."  


Puck shrugged after listening to every word Kurt said. "Maybe. I could try..."  


"You should," Kurt said, placing his hand on Puck's knee and squeezing gently. When Puck looked at him, he smiled,

"Let's get to class. We're already late."  


"Since we're already late," Puck replied, grabbing Kurt's wrist, "Let's just stay here until second period."  


Kurt wanted to say no. He had never, ever, skipped a class before. But then again, Puck really looked like he needed someone to distract him from the obviously hard subject they just talked about, and Kurt loved being that person.  


"Ok," he said, smiling back when Puck shot him a little grin.  


"Do you want to hang out after school?"  


"I can't," Kurt thought he saw a look of disappointment cross Puck's face, but he figured he was just imagining it.  "Santana asked, no, she demanded a shopping trip with she and Brittany."  


"Can't you do that this weekend?"  


"I could ask."  


"Well, do that."  


"Did you plan something?"  


"No, but I thought we could go to your house and watch a movie or something."  


Ah, so that  
was it... Puck just didn't feel like hanging out alone at his house.  But why didn't he ask Finn or Sam or anyone else from one of the jocks to hang out? Why did he ask him?  

Ok, they had formed a sort of friendship, but it was still a little strange for Kurt.  

He felt like any day now it could explode. Puck would tell him their friendship was just a big joke.  

Kurt meant absolutely nothing to him.  


But that day still hadn't come and Kurt couldn't help but hope that it never would.  


"Kurt?" Puck waved his hand in front of the smaller boy, "Hey, you're spacing off on me here."  


"Sorry," Kurt said, shaking his head a little, "You were saying?"  


"I asked if it was ok to go to your house or you would rather do something else?"  


"Oh. No, watching a movie at my place is fine."  


"Cool," Puck said with a soft smile, then silence fell.  Both boys just sat down on a desk, right next to each other, the silence not bothering them at all.  

It wasn't long until the bell for second period rang and they both walked out of the empty class, saying a quick goodbye before leaving to go to their next class, not about to skip that one too.  


Kurt couldn't suppress the smile on his face when he saw the curious looks some students gave him as he and Puck exited the classroom.  

Let them speculate; he knows there's nothing going on.  


Even if he wishes there was...

  


"Kurt!"   


Kurt looked up from his salad at his lunch table as Mercedes and Rachel stormed up to him.

 They both started talking in unison as they were taking their seats at Kurt's table, so Kurt held up his hands.  


"One at a time, ladies."

 

The girls looked at each other before Rachel gave a nod to Mercedes to go ahead and tell him.  


"The Glee club is back this year!"   


Kurt raised his eyebrow in surprise at the enthusiasm in his best friend's voice.  "Yes...And?"  


"And..." she drawled out the word, "I think we should sign up for it."  


"Are you insane?" Kurt let out a laugh, "We've never signed up for it before, why would we do it now?"  


"Because it's our last chance to do so. Come on, Kurt. It will be fun."  


"Oh yes, getting laughed at even more than now will be a lot of fun."  


"We won't be laughed at if we can get some guys of the football team to join the Glee club too."  Kurt was suspicious the girls had a plan when his shocked look wasn’t reflected in Mercedes' face.  


"You're serious? Those jocks will never agree to join the Glee club."  


"I've got Finn almost ready to sign up for it and Mercedes says Sam will do so too."  


Both girls looked pleased with themselves and why shouldn't they? Getting Finn and Sam to sign up for Glee club would really be a big achievement.

 Kurt couldn't help it when his mind drifted off to another certain jock with a great singing voice.  

Well, he wasn’t sure if Finn and Sam could sing, but he knew Noah could.  


"You should ask Noah to join too."  Ok, apparently Rachel was a mind reader.   


"He's never going to lower himself to that. Glee club is the lowest of the low inside this school. That's why it has failed to exist for longer then two months during all our years here in High School. "  


"But we can change that..."  


"It's our last year here, Rachel. I just don't see the point in this."  

 

Before Rachel could answer, they were disturbed by another boy's presence, Noah Puckerman.  


"You wanted to talk to me, Rach?"  


"Yes, Noah," Rachel smiled, gesturing to the unoccupied chair next to Kurt, "Have a seat."  


Puck raised his eyebrow but did sit, looking expectantly at Rachel.  


"Kurt would like to ask you something."  


Kurt's eyes widened as Puck turned his questioning gaze towards him.  "What's up?"  


"I, um," Kurt looked down at his salad, idly playing with his fork, "What do you think about Glee club?"  


Puck's eyes widened for a split second, "That doesn't exist anymore, does it?"  


"They started it up again," Rachel's over excited voice chimed in.  


"Really?" Puck asked surprised, "Who the hell would want to sign up for that?"  


"I am," Mercedes spoke up firmly, "And so is Rachel. We're trying to get Finn, Sam and Kurt in as well."  


Puck looked from Mercedes to Rachel to Kurt, who was still staring at and playing with his salad.  


"Seriously," Puck asked, holding Kurt's wrist to stop him from playing with his fork, "You want to sign up for Glee club?"  


Kurt sighed, "I haven't said yes to the girls yet, but, I don't know...It might be fun?"  


Puck stared at Kurt for a minute before releasing his wrist and standing up from his seat, taking his plate with food up from the table.  


"Where are you going?"  


"I know you're gonna ask me to join too and I can't. I have a reputation to uphold."  


Kurt looked over at the girls with a look that clearly said, 'I told you so'.  


"But, Noah-"  


"No, Rach. I'm sorry but I'm not doing this."  Before Rachel had the chance to reply, Puck was already on his way to the jocks' table where everyone sat watching him curiously.  


"You're such a jerk, Noah Puckerman!" Rachel shouted after him but he dismissed her with a backhanded wave.

 Rachel looked so disappointed Mercedes squeezed her arm and even Kurt took pity on her.  


"Did you really expect anything else from him, Rachel?"

 

Rachel looked up at him, shaking her head lightly.  

"He's a different person then you all think he is. I'm just waiting for him to finally show it to anyone else but me."

Rachel stormed out of the school cafeteria, leaving her food completely forgotten.  

Kurt and Mercedes shared a look then a collective sigh before they turned their attention to the food.  

Neither of them noticed Puck glancing their way a few times with an unreadable expression on his face.

 

  


"Noah!"

 Puck whirled around to face his best with a sigh then an annoyed look that faded as he saw how panicked Rachel looked.  


"What's wrong, Rach?"  


"Come with me," without further ado Rachel grabbed Puck's wrist and pulled him towards one of the girl's bathrooms.

"Rachel, I can't go in there."  

Rachel didn't budge, instead she stopped in front of the door and looked straight into Puck's eyes.

"Something happened to Kurt."

 That was enough for Puck to open the door and storm into the girls' room.

Once inside, he saw Kurt and Mercedes standing at one of the sinks, a make-up bag lying open on the sink.  

At the sound of the door opening, both Kurt and Mercedes looked into the reflection of the mirror to see who it was.

Puck let out a gasp when he saw Kurt's face.  


"What the hell happened?" Puck demanded, unable to keep his legs and feet from walking over to the girl and boy.  

A bruise was forming under Kurt's right eye and Puck had to hold himself back to stop from reaching out his hand to touch it.  


"Somebody's fist flew in my face."  


"That's bull."  


"Fine," Kurt snapped, "Someone punched me in the face because I talked back to him, ok? Happy now?"  


"Who?" Puck asked, feeling his hands clenching at his sides. "Who hit you, Kurt?"  


"Does it matter?" Kurt asked, getting back to pay attention to his eye, smiling at Mercedes when she gave him some concealer.  


"Yes, it does."    


Kurt sighed, his eyes still meeting Puck's through the mirror. "It was one of the jocks," holding his stare, he continued, "Remember those guys? Your teammates? The ones you're scared of?"  


"I'm not scared of them." Puck almost growled, "I'm not scared of anyone."  


"Really?" Rachel chimed in, "Seems to me that you are scared of something,  
otherwise you wouldn't let them control you. You let them take something away from you that you love doing. You love to sing, Noah. I know you do and you're great at it, both Kurt and Mercedes will agree with me," she waited until Kurt and Mercedes both nodded, "I dragged you here to let you see what your so called friends are capable of doing. It's your choice to do something about it or not, but, I for one think they've gone too far."  


Puck's gaze shifted from Rachel to Kurt and Mercedes, who were now fully concentrating on Kurt's eye.  

Puck didn't say anything, just turned his back to all three of them and left the girls' room.   


He needed time to think.  


  


  


"You should've seen the queer's face."  


Puck strained to hear as he stood at his locker across some jocks in the hallway.

The conversation was obviously about Kurt and he really wanted, no, needed to hear this.  


"I bet he never saw my fist coming."  

Langenthal, Puck definitely recognized that voice.  


"Bitch had it coming too," Langenthal continued, "Talking back to me like that."  


"Did you hear that he's gonna join the new Glee club and he and his two fag hags are trying to involve Finn and Sam? Maybe even Puck." Rosenberg said this time.  


"Hah!" Langenthal snorted and the other jocks chuckled too, "As if they would ever do that. Ok, Hudson and Evans, but Puckerman? I bet he would want to punch the little fairy too. Just to peg him down a few notches."  


"I don't know, dude," Rosenberg again, "Puck seems to be quite friendly with the fairy lately."  


Langenthal laughed, the other jocks giving him a confused and curious look.  


"Don't you guys get it? Puck is just playing a game with the fairy. At the end of the day, he'll just laugh at him along with us. Mark my words, Puck is gonna dump that little fairy's as and his supposed to be friendship in no time."  


With that, Puck had heard enough.  Sure, this had all started out as a bet, but if he was honest to himself Puck’s friendship with Kurt felt real.  

He wanted it to be real.  

 

The bet didn't matter for him anymore. In fact, it never had.  


Slamming his locker shut harder then he normally would, Puck turned around to face his "friends" who startled and turned to him at the slamming sound.  

He stalked up to them, taking in their frightened faces. Well, Langenthal didn't look frightened, but he was the only one.  

In one swift movement, Puck had grabbed the obnoxious jock by his collar and pushed him against the lockers, the others stood by watching him in shock.  


"You don't know shit about me, Langenthal." Puck growled into his victim's face, "You better leave Kurt and the others who want to join Glee club alone, or-"  


"Or else what?" Langenthal smirked, "Are you going soft on us, Puckerman? Hanging out with the fairy and the losers now."  


"I'll show you going soft," Puck grumbled letting go of Langenthal who saw this as his victory.  


He was straightening out the wrinkles in his collar and just about ready to brag to his fellow jocks, he raised his head and...

A fist punched against his cheek, making him fall back against the lockers.  


Cradling his cheek with one hand and the other holding the back of his head, Langenthal looked up and glared at Puck who was still standing in front of him and had not turned away like Langenthal thought he had.  


"What the fuck, Puckerman?" Langenthal exclaimed, "Have you gone mad?"  


"I'm not letting a loser like you judge me," Puck answered, as calm as ever. "From now on I'll do whatever I want to do - which is to join the Glee club."  


All the stares he got from the jocks were completely worth his sudden decision. He just smirked at them before walking away, leaving them all to stare after him in shock and utter confusion.  


While he walked away he debated on telling Rachel about his decision, but in the end decided not to.  


He wanted it to be a surprise for her as well. And a happy surprise it would be, for sure.

  


Kurt, Rachel, Mercedes and the others who auditioned for the Glee club were all still sitting in the auditorium, watching the last performance waiting for Mr. Schuester to make a decision.  

The results wouldn't be revealed until the next day, so they all had to wait in anticipation.  


The last person to audition, an Asian girl who, Kurt remembered, was called Tina. She was good, but her song choice was a little...weird.  

They all clapped politely and Mr. Schuester was just about to say that they had done a good job and could all leave the auditorium when the doors slammed open.  


Everyone's heads turned towards the source of the sound, Kurt, Rachel and Mercedes' mouths dropping when they saw who entered the room.  


It was Puck in all his jock glory, looking around the auditorium with his hands stuffed into his pockets.  


Mr. Schuester broke the silence when all the others could do nothing but stare.  


"Can I help you?" he asked, "You're Noah Puckerman, right? I remember you from my Spanish class."  


Puck looked at the teacher, then nodded, "Yeah, that's me," he answered. "You can call me Puck, though."  


The teacher just nodded, "What can I help you with, Puck?"  


Puck looked around at all the other students, his eyes halting on where Kurt, Rachel and Mercedes were seated, then back to the teacher.  


"This is the place where you have to audition for the Glee club, right?" he tried not to smile when he heard Rachel's squeal.

"Yes, it is. I didn't see your name on the list though."  


"I was too late to write my name on the paper. I was kind of debating on it you know, and when I finally decided, the sign up paper was already off of the board."  


"I see," Mr. Schuester said thoughtfully, "Well, I guess I can make an exception this time. You have a song prepared I hope?"  


Puck ran his hand over his mohawk. "No, not really. But I’ll come up with something."  


Upon seeing the piano on stage, Puck felt more relieved. He always felt more confident singing when he had an instrument to hide behind.

  

He waited until the teacher gave him the good to go sign and walked up the stage, giving Sam and Finn a tight smile when he caught their eye.  

He sat on the piano stool, still not really sure about what to sing, but when he let his fingers ghost over the piano keys they suddenly began to play a familiar tune.  

He concentrated on nothing but the piano as he started to sing.  

Everyone, including Mr. Schuester were absolutely stunned by Puck's voice.

Not even Rachel had ever heard her best friend sing like that before.  

It was almost haunting... Making Kurt completely mesmerized by him.  


When Puck sang the last line and the notes on the piano died out the auditorium was greeted with deadly silence.  


Puck didn't look up. He just kept staring at the piano keys as he raised one hand to wipe over his face to get rid of the tears that had fallen.  

He hated this song.

Alright, he loved it, but he hated all the emotions it brought up within him.  


The silence was shattered when Rachel suddenly stood and started clapping with everyone joining in and giving Puck a well deserved standing ovation. Mr. Schuester clapped enthusiastically as he stepped back up on the stage.  


"Great job, Puck."  


Puck didn't even look up as he stood up from the piano stool. He just muttered a quiet thanks before going to sit alone on one of the chairs.  

He didn't here a word Mr. Schuester said afterwards and he didn't notice everyone leaving when he finally heard someone clear their throat next to him.  

He looked up to see Kurt standing there, his face unreadable.

Puck let out a sigh.   


"What is it, Kurt?"  


Kurt took a seat beside Puck without being invited to, but Puck didn't expect anything less from Kurt.  


"That was...Different."  


Puck snorted, "That's one way to put it."  


"Even Rachel looked surprised. Your voice sounds actually kind of beautiful when you're straining your vocal chords to get to those higher notes. It sounded very emotional too."  


Puck sighed again and looked away, "It was the song my dad used to sing to my mom. I basically  
grew up listening to it."  


"Oh." Kurt replied after a short pause, "I know how it is to live with just one parent instead of two."  


Puck's head turned towards Kurt in confusion. Now that he thought about it, Puck had never seen Kurt’s mom.  

She was never there during his numerous visits to Kurt’s house.  He had never asked Kurt about it, on instinct he had known not to broach the subject. Now seemed the perfect time.  


"What happened to your mom?"  


A silence fell and Puck studied the boy beside him as he worried his bottom lip between his teeth.  


Kurt seemed so tense and Puck almost regetted that he asked the question, but then again, Kurt had probably felt the question coming before it had left his lips.  


The answer wasn't what Puck expected. He had expected it to be something in the lines of: "my mom has to work a lot" or "my parents are divorced and my dad got full custody over me". But not,  "My mom died. I was still a kid when the doctors said she had cancer and they couldn't do anything about it because it had already spread too much."  


"I'm sorry." The words were out before Puck knew it, but he meant them.  

Kurt gave him a sad smile, "It's ok. My dad is great. I couldn't wish for a better parent actually. It hasn't always been easy, but we worked things out and now everything's going great."  


"I'm glad," Puck replied with a sincere smile on his face, which Kurt couldn't help but return.  “My mom and I get along too. Well, most of the time. The only thing we disagree on is me getting out of this stupid cow town. She wants to keep me here."  


"Because your dad left her?"  


"Yeah, it's basically that. But I'm trying to get her to see that I'm not gonna abandon her, or Sarah. I'm not anything like my dad at all. She just needs to realize that."  


Kurt smiled and Puck raised his eyebrow at him.  "You're pretty smart when you want to be."  


Puck snorted, "Geez, thanks?"  


Kurt kept on smiling and bumped his shoulder against Puck's playfully.  

"Your mom will come around. Don't worry about it."  


Puck shrugged and stared ahead, silence settling between the two boys once more.  


"So, um…" Puck hesitantly broke the silence, "Do you have a date for Prom?"  


Kurt tried to hide his surprise at the question, "No...I don't even know if I'll go."  


"Why not?"  


"First of all, I don't have a date. And secondly, I..." Kurt looked down, fidgeting with his hands at his sleeves a little, "I don't think people would want me there."  


Puck suddenly felt a burst of anger run through him by Kurt’s last statement.  

"That's bull, Hummel. You shouldn't care about what people think. If you want to go the party, then just go."  


"But I don't have anyone to go with."  


"You have me," Puck replied, but when he saw Kurt's surprised, almost shocked, expression he backpedalled a little bit. "Or...You could always ask Mercedes."  


"That was the plan first, to go with Mercedes," Kurt said quietly, "But then she told me she had a date. I don't even know who it is."  


"Well, we could always go together."  


"I don't think you know what you're saying."  


"I know very well what I'm saying. I'm asking you to go to the Prom with me."  


"But-"  


"No but's, Kurt. I know what you're thinking, I really do." Kurt just raised his eyebrow, so Puck went on, "I know you're thinking about what people will think about us, about me, but unlike you, I don't give a damn what people think. Not about this kind of thing anyway. We're bro’s right? And I like to help a bro out. Besides, that way I'll have a date too."  


Leaving a pause to take in every word Puck said, Kurt snorted.  


"Like there aren't already hundreds of girls around, waiting for you to ask them to Prom."   


Puck smirked and shrugged, "I don't really care. I'd rather go with someone I can talk to, someone I can actually have a great time with then with some girl who's just interested in showing me off to her girlfriends and then ditch me alltogether."

Kurt stared intensely at him, but Puck wasn't one to be intimidated so easily.  

 

He just stared back at Kurt.  


"You sure about this?"  


"Of course," Puck answered, his voice dripping with confidence,"It will help us both out, you know.  It's gonna be fun."

 

 Puck smiled, trying to assure Kurt he was being sincere. He really wanted to go to Prom with him.  


"Besides," he added, with a little wink at the end, "You are nominated for Prom King. You'll have to show up to recieve your crown."  


Kurt laughed and Puck couldn't help the grin that spread across his face.

   
"Yes, I can't miss that opportunity, can I?"  


"So, you're in?"  


Puck held out his fist, which Kurt eyed rather skeptically for a second before bumping it.  


"I'm in."

  
  
**Chapter 10**   
  


  


At first, Kurt wanted to keep his Prom Date with Puck a secret, especially from his two nosy girl friends.  

Then again, he felt like he was gonna explode if he didn't tell someone. The next time he and Blaine were working together in the almost empty coffee shop one Kurt couldn't help but just blurt it out.

"Puck asked me out to our Prom."  


Blaine almost dropped his own coffee he had just made and stared at his friend with wide eyes.

"Puck did what?"

"He asked me out to Prom," seeing Blaine’s shocked look made Kurt suddenly realizing what he was implying and he quickly explained, "No, not like that. He just asked me as a friend."  


Blaine continued to stare at him, taking a sip from his coffee and raising his eyebrow. Kurt rolled his eyes.  


"It's not what you think it is, Blaine. Puck didn't suddenly, miracously, turn gay or bisexual for me."  


"Pansexual?"  


Kurt rolled his eyes again, "Whatever, Blaine. I'm starting to believe that Puck and I formed some kind of friendship and I don't want to ruin it by getting things in my head that aren't true."  


"Uh-huh..."  


The arrival of a customer saved Blaine from a scolding. Kurt tensed when he saw it was Karofsky and his best friend Azimio, both laughing with some lame joke.  

Their laughter stopped and turned into sneers as they walked up to the counter to place their orders.

 Seeing the look of horror on Kurt's face, Blaine stepped forward to serve the two bullies, forcing a smile on his face.  


"What can I get you boys?"  


"Can't the fag serve us?"   


Blaine flinched at the word, but quickly recovered and plastered on his smile again.  


"You'll have to do with the other fag I'm afraid."   


The two bigger jocks were taken aback for a moment.  

As Azimio placed their orders, Kurofsky turned his attention to Kurt.  


"So Hummel," he sneered, "I've seen you and Puckerman hanging out a lot lately. What's the deal with that?"  


Keeping his cool, Kurt shrugged. "Does it have to mean anything? We're just friends."  


Azimio and Karofsky both blinked, then looked at each other and burst out laughing.  

Blaine and Kurt looked confused at each other, then back at the two laughing boys, who were now trying to compose themselves.  


Karofsky was the first one who had himself under control again and immediately rounded on Kurt.  


"You and Puckerman aren't friends. There's no way Puck would lower himself to befriend someone like you."  


Kurt frowned, "You just said yourself that we hang out a lot together."  


"Yeah and I want to know why. Or why you think that is. Because you are definitely not friends."  


Kurt and Blaine grew even more confused and even Azimio looked a little lost.  


"What do you mean?"  


"Yeah man," Azimio piped up, "Even I can't follow you right now."  


Ignoring his friend, Karofsky kept his attention on Kurt. "You mean you don't know?"  


"What should I know?"  


Before Karofsky could respond, Blaine stepped in. He didn't like where this conversation was going. He didn't like it at all.

 Luckily for him, the bell above the door chimed, annoucing another customer so it would be easier for him to show the two jocks the door.  


"Excuse me, gentlemen" Blaine said, plastering a smile on his face, "We do need to serve other customers."  


Looking over their shoulders, Azimio and Karofsky moved away from the counter, but not before Karofsky turned to Kurt for one last comment.  


"You should ask Puck why he's still hanging out with you." With a mock salute he followed Azimio out of the store, "See you later, Hummel."   


Blaine threw Kurt a concerned look before turning to their customer at the counter.  

Kurt just watched as the jocks walked out.  

Blaine didn't know what the hell was going on and based on the look on Kurt's face, neither did he.  


Once the customer was gone, Blaine turned back to his best friend and found him lost in his thoughts with a frown on his face.  

Blaine grew more concerned when Kurt didn't immediately respond when he called his name.  


"Kurt?" He tried again, waving his hand in front of his friend's face.  


Kurt blinked and shook his head, his eyes focusing on Blaine.  

"Yes?"  


"Are you ok?"  


"I think so," Kurt answered, still a little out of it and glancing at the door every few seconds as if to assure himself that Karofsky and Azimio wouldn't be coming back.   


"You sure?"  


"I just... I don't know what he meant."  


"Karofsky?" Kurt nodded and Blaine shrugged, "Who knows. Maybe he got a football too hard against his head and can't make sense anymore for a while." Kurt chuckled when Blaine added, "Not that he ever did before."  


"Still," Kurt said after a little pause, "I think I do need to talk with Puck."  


Blaine nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe you should. "  


Having made up his mind, Kurt tried to concentrate on his work for the rest of the day, but still couldn't get that encounter out of his head completely.  

He needed to speak with Puck and soon. Even if he had to corner him somewhere in school.  

He just had to know.

 

 

Getting Puck alone proved to be easier in theory than in practice. Whenever Kurt approached Puck, someone else already seemed to have his full attention.

  
It began to feel like they were all doing it on purpose. Even Rachel grew frustrated when once again Puck was pulled away by one of the football or hockey players as she tried to speak with her best friend. Even during Glee, Puck was always sitting with Sam or Finn or both.

  
Meanwhile news spread around McKinley High, (really nothing could stay a secret in that school,) that Noah Puckerman had asked Kurt Hummel to go to the Prom with him. Nobody paid attention to the words "as friends", just to the fact that someone like Puck would even ask someone like Kurt was shocking.

  
Everybody stared at Kurt when he walked down the hallways of the school and whispers could be heard behind his back. Since Kurt was already used to them from before, it wasn't really that hard to ignore them now.

  
What was hard to do was ignore Mercedes' fury when she caught word of the “Prom Date” rumor. She practically smashed him into the lockers when she cornered him and demanded an explanation why he didn't tell her about his date.

  
He sighed and told her it wasn't the kind of date she, or anyone else for that matter, expected it to be. It was just a friendly date.

  
But the truth was after Karofsky's words in the coffee shop, Kurt really didn’t know what the date was; maybe he was just a pity case to Puck. That's why he needed to talk to Puck so desperately, but he never got the chance.

  
Puck didn't notice anything was wrong until he saw Kurt's disappointed face as he walked through the hall with Sam and one of the other jocks. He wanted to ask Kurt what was wrong, but he never got the chance. Every time he even looked at the guy, someone would jump up and demand his attention.

  
Something was definitely going on.

  
He did see Karofsky act kind of suspicious in the hallway a few times, but then again, when didn't that guy look suspicious?

  
Still, Puck wanted to find out what was going on. Unfortunately, the one person who he should ask was the one person he couldn't get to.

  
It wasn't until Puck was helping Rachel and a few other students decorate the gym for the Prom a week and a half later, that the 2 boys finally got a chance for a discussion.

  
Unfortunately, discussion turned into a real confrontation.

  
Kurt was walking towards Puck and Rachel, when he saw another couple move towards them as well. A guy and girl he'd rather not see, but it couldn't be helped if he wanted to talk to Puck.

  
Boy, did he want to talk to him. The conversation should have been taken place days ago, so he wasn't going to back out of it now; not even for people like Quinn or Karofsky.

  
"Hey," Kurt said, relieved when he saw Puck smile as he turned to him.

  
"Hey stranger," Puck replied, unaware of the sudden tension that seemed to grow, due to Quinn and Karofsky standing next to him.

  
Rachel didn't seem to notice the tension either, which wasn't really a surprise, because she almost jumped on Kurt as she grabbed his arm.

  
"Kurt! I'm so happy you're here! I really need your help with this..."

  
Kurt didn't let her finish. He wiggled his arm free and said, "Not now, Rachel." Ignoring her look of hurt, he turned back towards Puck. "Noah, we need to talk."

  
Puck opened his mouth to say something, but Quinn beat him to it.

  
"Noah?" she asked incredulously, "Since when do you call him Noah?"

  
Kurt didn't know how to answer, it just kind of happened and Puck hadn't complained about it.

  
He didn't even have to try to answer, because Quinn was talking again and what she said made Kurt's stomach turn.

  
"You're going a little far in your little game. Aren't you, Puck?"

  
"Shut up, Quinn." Puck hissed, but the damage was already done.

  
"What game?" Kurt frowned at Puck, "What is she talking about?"

  
"You mean you don't know?" Quinn asked, fake gasping and turning to Puck again, "You haven't told him about your little "arrangement" with your friends about trying to make Kurt popular? Even win the whole Prom King/Queen competition?"

  
Kurt couldn't believe his ears. This couldn't be true, could it?

  
Rachel looked just as shocked as Kurt, while Quinn was smiling smugly and Karofsky, surprisingly, stayed a bit to the side.

  
Kurt looked at Puck, who was now staring down at the ground. His head bowed in what Kurt assumed was shame.

  
Still, he had to know. He had to hear from Puck whether Quinn was speaking the truth. It did seam to explain things. For example Karofsky's speech in the coffee shop; and the whole reason Puck started hanging out with Kurt.

  
"Is that true?" Kurt asked softly, then louder, "Am I a bet? Am I a fucking bet?"

  
Lost for words, but knowing Kurt at least deserved to know the truth, Puck nodded.

  
Kurt was furious and to make things even worse, Quinn apparently seemed to think Kurt wasn't humiliated enough.

  
"You didn't think Puck would actually want to be friends with you, did you?" seeing Kurt's eyes well up with tears, she said in a fake sympathetic tone, "Oh, you did. That's so sweet."

  
Kurt couldn't take it anymore. He felt so stupid... stupid for trusting that stupid jock. Stupid for thinking there was more to Puck then the stereotypic jock, because obviously there wasn't.

  
He was the jerk Kurt always believed him to be. It was just a game. Well, Kurt had been fooled for sure.

  
Kurt strode away without sparing anyone another glance, Karofsky running after him.

  
Quinn smiled triumphantly, leaning on Puck's shoulder she whispered into his ear: "Pick me up at 8." Then she left as well.

  
Puck and Rachel were the only ones still standing there, both a little dumbstruck.

  
Rachel composed herself first and then faced Puck with her hands on her hips, waiting for him to look at her. When he finally did, she slapped him hard in his face. Puck didn't complain. He knew he deserved it.

  
"You asshole," Rachel exclaimed, "I told you not to mess with him! How dare you do this to him? He trusted you. I'm so disappointed in you right now I can't even stand to look at you anymore." Rachel then stormed out dramatically, leaving Puck alone.

  
Whispers from the other students decorating were heard around the gym and Puck glared at them, trying to gain a bit of his former stature.

  
When everyone was quiet, Puck dropped whatever decoration he was holding in his hands to the ground and walked out of the gym. Leaving the others to their gossip.

  
He had really fucked things up. How could he have let this happen? And most importantly, why did he care so much about the hurt he saw in Kurt's eyes?

  
The last question was easy to answer. He cared about Kurt, a lot. In the weeks they hung out together he got to know the kid he realized they had truly become friends. And now he lost the best friendship he had ever experienced in his life.

  
The bet wasn't important anymore. It never really was. He wished he had never agreed to that bet at all. But then he probably would never have gotten to know Kurt, which would be a shame now that Puck knew he was a pretty awesome guy. But it might have been for the best, at least Kurt wouldn't have ended up being hurt and Puck wouldn't be feeling like shit right now.

  
He really was a big fuck up. No matter how hard he tried to play the part, he always ended up being a jerk to anyone he cared about. He broke up Finn, his former best friend, and Quinn. And there were so many other people he couldn’t even remember them all. Not that he had ever been really nice to Kurt, but this time, he actually cared about what he'd done because it was so much worse then anything he had done to him before.

  
For the first; ok, make that second; time in his life he really felt like the loser so many people called him. Puck hated that feeling more than anything in this world. Especially because he now believed it was the truth.

**Chapter 11**

  


  
The last few days at school before the big Prom night proved things changed for Puck. From the most worshipped student, he had become the most hated person in McKinley High, all because of that stupid bet.

  
He knew it was low and everyone seemed to think so too. He could deal with it though. Deal with all the glares, the snide comments thrown his way, people who used to hang out with now ignoring him.

  
What he couldn't deal with was the fact somehow Karofsky suddenly seemed to have wormed his way into befriending Kurt.

  
Puck didn't understand how Kurt could hang out with someone who used to bully him. Then again, Kurt had been hanging out with him, and although he the things he had done weren’t as bad as Karofsky had done, it was practically the same thing.

  
The one good thing was that he still had Finn and Sam and more than half of the football team to hang out with. Sam and Finn were still his friends and those other guys simply didn't care that much about what he had done.

  
Sam and Finn still spoke to Kurt as well, but when Puck asked if Kurt ever said anything about him, they sadly shook their heads and said Kurt forbid them to talk about Puck in his presence. This proved to Puck how hurt Kurt really was and made him feel like an even bigger jerk.

  
Rachel wasn't any better. She ignored him and when she did spare him a glance, her glares made him feel worse then a pile of horseshit, but he guessed he deserved that.

  
Then there was Mercedes who looked like she was going to kill him once she got the chance. He did everything he could to not be alone when she was around.

  
And Quinn? Well, the closer they got to the date of Prom, the more she threw herself at Puck trying to get him to take her. Her "relationship" with the local celebrity had fallen to pieces and Quinn was desperate to get her former status back, so who better to use then Puck?

  
True, Puck wasn't all that popular anymore because of the whole Kurt Hummel ordeal, but if Quinn had any say he would be back to being the most popular guy in the school in no time. They would help each other achieve their goals.

  
Except Puck wasn't so keen on helping Quinn with anything. He blamed her for the whole blow up with Kurt. She should have kept her nose in her own business. Besides, Puck didn't even know how she knew about the bet. Karofsky probably told her; that jerk.

  
And now that same jerk was sucking up to Kurt like crazy. If Puck didn't know better, he would think the jock actually had the hots for the smaller Gleek.

  
Unlike his exterior looks, Puck was kind of a mess inside. He really missed hanging out with Kurt. He wanted that back but every time he tried to get in contact with Kurt, the boy would give him the cold shoulder or just walk over to Mercedes knowing Puck avoided her at all costs.

  
Rachel's ignoring him was starting to get to him too. He even missed being annoyed at her, which happened all too often when they were still talking to each other.

  
Nobody seemed to notice his inner struggle. No one, that is, but Santana Lopez. The Latina was sick of seeing her friend and former regular hook up so messed up, because that just wasn't him.

  
Puck was always the most together guy she had ever known, except when his father left of course - and now. Puck may not completely understand what Kurt meant to him, but Santana did. And she was going to make sure he finally acted on his feelings for once.

  
She knew Puck had a little boy crush on Sam and maybe even on Finn too in the beginning. She had a crush on Brittany, only she had decided to do something about it. While Puck pushed every tiny little feeling he had for those boys that could be considered more than friendship as far away as he could.

  
She had enough of seeing one of her best friends suffer and decided to confront him right after school one day.

  
"You're such an asshole."

  
Puck glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, "Tell me something new, Lopez."

  
Santana rolled her eyes, "Not in the way you think I mean it."

  
"In what way do I think you mean it?"

  
"In the way that I'm calling you an asshole for what you did to Kurt." At Puck's silence, she continued, "Well, I'm not. You did act like a jerk, but I think I know why."

  
Puck raised his eyebrow, "And why's that, oh wise one."

  
Santana scoffed but answered him anyway, "For the same reason you're acting all defensive now, jackass. You like him."

  
"Somehow I don't really like the way you say that..."

  
"Come on, Noah." She didn't say his first name that much, but when she did she meant business. "I've known you for how many years now? We've been through practically everything together. You're the one who told me that Britt has always been the one for me, remember?"

  
Puck nodded, "I remember."

  
"Now I'm not gonna go as far as saying that Kurt is the one for you..."

  
"You'd better not."

  
"But," Santana held up her hand so he couldn't interrupt her again, "I think he might be good for you. You're different around him, in a total good way. At first I couldn't figure out why, but I see how you look at him and how it hurts you now that you've lost him."

  
Puck sighed and ran a hand through his mohawk. There was no one who could read him like Santana, not even Finn or Sam or Rachel. Santana's piercing eyes always saw straight through him and saw even the things he thought he hid away so well.

  
"What do you want me to do? I can't tell him. The guy hates my guts right now and has every right to do so."

  
"Win him back. Or are you gonna wait until Karofsky goes ahead and admits his feelings to Kurt?"

  
If Puck had been drinking or eating something right then he would have choked on it. He snapped his head up so fast he could have suffered whiplash.

  
"What feelings?"

  
Santana sighed, patting Puck's arm gently, "You guys really are blind when it comes to love, aren't you?"

  
Irritated, Puck pulled his arm away and glared at the Latina.

  
"What love? Karofsky can't be in love with Kurt. That's insane."

  
"Just as insane as you falling for the Gleek and joining the Glee club after the other guys harassed him."

  
"But..." Puck swallowed, "It's Karofsky..."

  
"Yeah, and you're Noah Puckerman. It's insane any way you look at it." At Puck's silence and scowling pout on his face, Santana took pity on him. "Come on, Puck. I'm just trying to get you to fight for your guy."

  
"He's not 'my guy'."

  
"Then make him yours. I've heard he's going to the Prom with Karofsky if you don't do something to stop him."

  
Puck's eyes widened and his hands automatically balled into fists.

  
"What am I supposed to do? Kurt won't even talk to me."

  
"Do you have a date for the Prom yet?"

  
"No, I'm not going."

  
"Like hell you're not. It's the best chance you have of winning him back. Trust me."

  
Raising his eyebrow again, Puck replied, "You have something planned, don't you?"

  
Santana didn't answer that. She just winked and continued her plan.

  
"So I was thinking that you could ask Rachel to go to Prom with you."

  
"She isn't talking to me either, in case you hadn't noticed that."

  
"She's Rachel Berry, the most dramatic drama queen ever in McKinley High, of course she's making a show of still being mad at you while she has actually forgiven you already."

  
"She has?" Puck asked surprised. He hadn't forgiven himself for what he did, so how could Rachel have forgiven him?

  
"Maybe not completely," Santana mused thoughtfully, "But it's up to you to take care of that. If you can smooth talk your way into the panties of practically any girl here in this school, I'm sure you can smooth talk your way into Rachel forgiving you."

  
Well, Santana had a point there. He could at least give it a try.

  
"Alright, I'll give it a go. I'll go over to her place tonight."

  
Santana smirked at him, "You go boy."

  
Somehow that sounded so wrong that Puck just rolled his eyes at her and Santana turned to walk away.

  
"San, wait!"

  
Santana turned around and raised her head a little, giving a slight nod to indicate that she was listening.

  
Scratching a little uncomfortable at the back of his neck, Puck muttered, "Thanks."

  
Santana smiled, gave him an air kiss and disappeared to her car where Brittany was still waiting for her.

  
Puck jumped into his truck and drove over to Rachel's house before he chickened out of it.

  
He didn't really have a plan, but he figured he would know what to do once he was in front of the Berry's front door.

  
Seemed like what he had to do was push his foot between the door and it's frame before Rachel could slam it shut in front of his face.

  
Damn, this wasn't going to be easy...

  
"Go away, Noah." At least she wasn’t calling him Puck, because that would signal he didn’t have a chance of making things up with her. "I told you I didn't want to see you again."

  
"Rach, come on," Puck argued, "I need your help."

  
Rachel snorted from behind the door, still trying to push it closed.

  
"Isn't that how it always goes? You screw things up and I have to pick up the pieces."

  
"It has been the other way 'round too. You know that."

  
And she did know. Puck had been there for her countless times. He really was a great friend, until he went and lied to her and hurt Kurt on top of that as well.

  
"You lied to me." She said softly, her voice full of sadness and betrayal. "You told me you weren't going to play a game with him."

  
Sighing, Puck leaned his head against the door. "I'm sorry, Rach. It really wasn't supposed to play out this way. I thought Karofsky had forgotten about the bet already."

  
"So it was Karofsky who's behind all this. I just knew it."

  
"Can you please let me in?"

  
Rachel shook her head, "I'm sorry, Noah. I can't help you. Goodbye."

  
With one more pull, she was almost able to close the door because Puck's foot had slipped a little, but he grabbed the doorknob and held it open.

  
"I love him, Rachel."

  
Rachel stopped pulling and she finally looked Puck in the eyes; a small smile tugging at her lips.

  
"You finally figured it out, huh?"

  
They had never talked about Puck's "secret feelings", but he wasn't surprised that she knew about them anyway.

  
He nodded and watched as Rachel finally opened the door, then lunged at him. He was just fast enough to open his arms and catch her. They both smiled into each other's necks.

  
"I'm sorry I lied to you," Puck said when they both pulled away and Rachel stepped aside to let him through.

  
"I think I'll be able to forgive you," she said with a smile, "Now we have some planning to do."

  
**Chapter 12**   
  


The next few days found Rachel at Puck’s side once again. Not letting any chance slip of telling everyone, even to those who didn't want to hear it, that she and Noah were going to Prom together.

  
Kurt was surprised at first to find them suddenly inseparable since Rachel had seemed just as pissed off at Puck. When he considered Rachel and Puck had been friends for years now and he understood Rachel wanting her best friend back.

  
Mercedes was a harder nut to crack and shot the Jewish girl deathly glares every chance she got, but Rachel didn't really seem to mind. She was simply too busy preparing herself for the Prom. She even went so far as to go shopping with Puck to buy him, as she called it, the perfect Prom suit. Puck didn't really mind. He put up with his best friend's antics because he felt like he at least owed her that.

  
He did notice Kurt staring at him sometimes, but pretended he didn't so the boy wouldn't feel embarrassed to get caught in his act. Besides, he liked the attention. It was nice to know that Kurt still liked to look at him, even if he was still mad at him. It must mean something.

  
Meanwhile, Karofsky was sucking up to Kurt and kissing his ass, and the football and hockey players were starting to ask questions. Even Karofsky's faithful sidekick Azimio was confused about his friend's behavior. He thought it was a prank in the beginning, but since Dave had told him he was going to the Prom with Kurt, he really had no idea what was going on.

  
When he asked about it, Dave had snapped at him and told him to mind his own business. Azimio was more than a little taken aback, but did as he was told.

  
The closer the evening of the Prom approached, the more excited the students at McKinley High were getting. When the day finally arrived, Puck went to pick Rachel up with the fairly cheap limousine he rented for the evening. He knew Rachel would have made a scene if he hadn't. Her sparkling eyes and the bright smile on her face when she opened the door for him was worth the trouble. Even going through the embarrassment of the pictures that both Rachel and her two dads insisted should be taken. When Rachel and her dads were satisfied with the amount of pictures, Puck and Rachel were on their way to Prom.

  
When they arrived they got out and saw Sam, Mercedes, Finn and his date, a girl whose name Puck couldn’t remember.

  
Mercedes glared at the two of them as they joined the foursome, but one look from Sam made her keep her mouth shut. The six of them greeted each other with hugs and fist bumps and went inside the gym to join the rest of the celebrating students.

  
Once inside, Puck's eyes immediately searched around for one person, but Rachel saw him first and nudged Puck gently.

Puck felt a pang of hurt in his chest when he saw Kurt standing with Karofsky, laughing about something the jock had just whispered in his ear. Puck couldn't help but wish it were him Kurt was laughing with and not Karofsky. But he hoped that would happen soon.

  
After getting a non-alcoholic drink and talking with some of his friends, Puck made his way over to the table where all the guys and girls who were nominated for Prom King or Queen had to check in. There he was surprised to find a slightly geeky looking kid telling Kurt, “I’m sorry Mr. Hummel, I’m afraid your on the list of the Queens and not the Kings.”

  
"But I'm not a girl," Kurt exclaimed, trying to keep the volume of his voice down. He didn't want to make a scene. "Just scratch me off the girls' list and put me up on the boys."

  
The geeky boy shook his head, "I'm very sorry, those papers have to stay how they are. Orders from Coach Sylvester."

  
Puck watched Kurt's face change from angry to crestfallen. He looked so defeated that Puck wanted to stand up for him. He was just about to say something when he felt a hand on his arm and heard the unmistakable voice of Santana right by his ear. "Watch this," she said and then walked up to the table, looking straight at the boy with the papers in his hand. "Is there a problem here, Kevin?"

  
The boy nodded, "It seems like there has been made a mistake, Miss Lopez."

  
"A mistake?" Santana replied, taking the papers from Kevin's hands, "There can't be a mistake. I made them myself. Coach Sylvester would have killed me if I made a mistake and she read them through several times. Are you saying that Coach Sylvester made a mistake?"

  
Knowing Santana could get Coach Sylvester straight to their table on raised voices alone, Kevin swallowed harshly and shook his head. "No, miss Lopez, but...Mr. Hummel here has been added onto the list of the Queens instead of the Kings."

  
"And?"

  
Kevin frowned, "And Mr. Hummel is not a girl."

  
"I'm aware of that," Santana replied, "Yet, someone asked us to put him onto the Queens list. He even offered me money."

  
That peeked Kurt's interest and he looked up again with a questioning look on his face.

"Who?"

  
Santana's eyes sparkled mischievously, Puck noticed, before she looked over at Karofsky with a smirk on her face. "He did."

  
Karofsky's face turned from surprise to panic almost immediately while Kurt snapped his head to the side to look at him.

  
"I should have known," Kurt spoke heatedly, "You jocks are all out to humiliate me even more than I already humiliate myself. I was a fool to believe that one, much less two of you could be different."

  
"Kurt, I..."

  
"No," Kurt held up his hand to stop him, "I don't want to hear it. I don't need your apology, because it doesn't mean anything." Kurt turned around and started walking away when Karofsky gripped his wrist. Irritated, Kurt turned around again and glared at him.

  
"I didn't mean to hurt you," Karofsky tried to plead for his innocence, "It was just a joke."

  
"Oh you thought I would laugh at it?" Kurt asked, unable to keep his voice from going higher at the end. "Well, ha-ha. Did you get what you want now?"

  
"No, Kurt, I..."

  
"Let me go."

  
Karofsky hesitated, but when he saw the fury in Kurt's eyes, he loosened his grip and allowed Kurt to pull his arm back. With no one holding him back anymore, Kurt stormed out of the building. Mercedes, who noticed the distress on her best friend's face, followed him out.

  
As soon as Kurt was gone, Karofsky rounded on Santana, looking absolutely furious. "You bitch!" he exclaimed loudly, "This is all your fault!"

  
Santana crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him with her bitch-face on.

"You might want to calm down, David."

  
"I'm not scared of you."

"I'm not asking you to be. But I know you are scared of those people standing behind you."

  
Karofsky turned around and came face to face with both Coach Sylvester and Coach Beiste. Both looked like they were up for some action with a troublemaker like him.

  
"What seems to be the problem, Karofsky?" Coach Beiste asked.

  
"Santana tricked me into something, coach."

  
"Did she now?" coach Sylvester spoke up, "Well sandbags, you're doing a great job, I can tell."

  
Santana smirked triumphantly, while Karofsky fumed angrily.

  
"Is there no one here who would actually listen to me?!" Karofsky yelled and both coaches turned to him again, their eyes narrowed.

  
"Alright, Dave," coach Beiste said, placing her hand on Karofsky's shoulder, "Time to go outside."

  
"But I didn't do anything wrong!"

  
Coach Beiste didn't let him finish but started shoving him, gently, towards the door ignoring Karofsky's muttered curses in an effort to put an end to the start of a bad atmosphere.

  
When Beiste and Karofsky were gone, Coach Sylvester patted Santana briefly on her shoulder before walking away. Puck, who had been rooted on the spot the whole time the whole charade had played out, now blinked and looked at Santana in confusion.

  
"What the hell was all that about?"

  
"That was karma, biting Karofsky in the ass." Santana answered, clearly feeling satisfied with herself. "He wanted to humiliate Hummel by putting him up on the Queens' list, then wanted to backtrack out of it after Hummel found out about your bet. He went to Coach Sylvester but I overheard him and convinced her not to change a thing. I don't think she was going to do a thing anyway, but hey, I can take credit for it. And now Kurt knows what a jerk that guy really is and ditched him."

  
Puck blinked again, taking it all in making sure he understood everything. He wasn't stupid, but that was a lot of information he just got that he really hadn't expected at all.

As it all quickly sunk in only one question remained inside Puck's mind.

  
"Why are you helping me?"

  
Sure, Santana was his friend, but she had never helped him before. Not like this.

  
"Isn't that what friends are for?" Santana quipped, but at Puck's eyebrow raise she rolled her eyes. "Maybe I'm just sick of your sulking and Quinn's bitchiness. Brittany and I want the old Q back and the only way to do that is to put her in her place."

  
Puck nodded in understanding, "I'm not sure she's going to be here. I was supposed to pick her up."

As if on cue, Quinn came striding into the gym, her eyes searching for that familiar mohawk. When she found him, a predatory smile appeared on her face and she made her way over to him.

  
"Oh, she's here," Santana replied, looking over Puck's shoulder." In fact she's coming over here right now. Good Luck, Puckerman."

  
With that said, Santana left him alone and Puck turned around, waiting for Quinn. But it seemed like Quinn wasn't the only girl looking for him, because Rachel was suddenly standing right in front of his face. Damn that girl was good in sneaking up on someone.

  
"What happened Noah?" Rachel asked, "One minute I was talking to Finn and then suddenly Kurt's racing past us with Mercedes on his heels. I went outside to talk to them but Mercedes doesn't trust me anymore and the only thing Kurt said was something about

'unbelievable jocks' and 'not being able to trust them'." She narrowed her eyes, "You didn't do anything stupid again, did you?"

  
"No, I didn't. It was Karofsky this time."

  
Rachel's eyes widened in realization, "So he ditched him?"

  
"Pretty much, yeah."

  
Before Rachel could react, she was pushed aside by Quinn, whose scowl turned into a sweet smile as she looked at Puck.

  
"There you are. I guess you forgot to pick me up, but I forgive you." Taking Puck's arm, she started dragging him towards the dance floor, "Come on, let's dance. Show them all how pretty their Prom King and Queen look together."

  
Puck stopped abruptly, making Quinn stumble a little and bump into his side. She looked at him and raised her eyebrow.

  
"I don't want to dance."

  
"Why not?"

  
"I'm not in the mood, ok. Besides, I'm here with Rachel, not with you."

Quinn pursed her lips into a thin line, "You brought that freak here instead of me?"

  
"Rachel is not a freak, Q. She's my best friend. Like you were once to me as well."

  
"I don't know what you're talking about." Quinn replied, but it was clear to Puck she knew very well what he was talking about.

  
"You've changed, Q. Ever since that guy from Real World seduced you, you've turned into this bitch we both know you really aren't. Everybody noticed it and got sick of your tantrums over nothing. Even your two best friends. They want to give you another chance. It's up to you if you take it or not."

  
Looking back over her shoulder, Quinn saw Santana and Brittany standing together just a few feet away from she and Puck. They both looked a little nervous, but Brittany's hopeful smile was what triggered Quinn to make her decision.

  
"You're right," she said softly, "I have changed. So have you, you know."

  
Puck nodded and a shy looking smile appeared on his face. "I know"

  
Without saying another word, Quinn wrapped her arms around Puck and hugged him. After just a second of tensing up, Puck hugged her back just as tight. Their little moment was ruined when Rachel cleared her throat. They both pulled back from each other and gave Rachel an annoyed look.

  
"I'm sorry to break you guys up," Rachel said, sounding anything but sorry, "But this is your chance to get Kurt back, Noah. Make him see how you really feel about him."

  
Puck looked over at Quinn, who smiled at him, nodding her head. "Go get your boy. I'm going to try and get my friends back."

  
She leaned up on her tiptoes and brushed a kiss against Puck's cheek before walking away. Puck just stood there, a little helplessly almost, lucky for him; Rachel knew how to take charge at times like these.

  
"You go and find Finn and Sam, talk to the band and take your place on stage. I'm going get Kurt back inside."

  
"Maybe he has gone home already."

  
"I don't think so, but I'll have to do a bit of persuasion to get him back inside. You better get ready for it."

  
Puck nodded in agreement, then went in search of his two friends while Rachel went outside to find Kurt.

Puck spotted Finn easily enough and lucky for him, Sam was standing close to him as well. He quickly explained to the two boys what was going on and they had to talk to the band to see if they could have the stage so they could sing and play their rehearsed song.

Puck had searched long enough for the perfect song and had come prepared.

  
When he asked Mr. Schuester for permission to sing at Prom, the teacher told him to just inform the band when they would need the stage and it would be ok. As the band left the stage to them the other curious students watched Puck, Finn and Sam take their places.

  
Finn sat down behind the drums while Sam and Puck both grabbed a guitar and started tuning it. Meanwhile, Rachel was outside talking to Kurt and Mercedes. It seemed like she wasn't going to get them back inside, until Rachel mentioned that Coach Beiste had thrown Karofsky out.

  
Kurt wasn't in the mood anymore, not that he really had been in the beginning because he kept on thinking he would rather be here with Puck instead of Dave.

  
How his mind and heart could betray him. Puck had played him and still he felt like there was more to the boy - some other side to him that Kurt just got a glimpse of. He wanted to see more, but thought that wasn't possible anymore.

  
Mercedes wanted to stay with Sam though and since she was probably going be his ride home as Dave had driven him to the prom, and he didn't want to ruin his best friends' night too. So he decided to head back inside the gym with the two girls. When they were inside he saw the three boys on stage and immediately turned to Rachel for an explanation.

  
"What's going on here?"

  
Rachel smiled, "You'll see." Then she stood on her tiptoes and called out loudly, "Noah!" She waved so he would see her and also see Kurt. Puck spotted them immediately, nodded to Rachel, then to Sam and Finn and walked towards the microphone stand.

He gently tapped it with his finger to see if it was on and then started to speak.

  
"Hey everyone," he stopped for a few seconds to make sure everyone was paying attention, "I think you all know who I am." A few chuckles were heard, "I'm not that good at giving a speech but I felt like I had to say something before I started singing." A short pause, a deep breath, and he started speaking again, "I'm sure you all heard that I've hurt someone really badly this year and I just want him to know that I never wanted that. I wanted to tell him about that stupid bet in the beginning, but something held me back. It took me a while to figure out what it was, but now I know. It never really was about the bet for me. Sure, it made me make the step to actually get to know him and I surely don't regret that, but...I didn't hang out with you because of that bet, Kurt." He suddenly looked right into Kurt's eyes, speaking straight to him. "I hung out with you because I enjoyed it. I like hanging out with you. I just like you. You made me see who I really am, who I became, and who I want to be again. I've been hiding from myself all those years and I'm sick of it. I hope you can give me another chance."

  
Complete silence fell over the gym, except for the few people murmuring to each other. But Kurt couldn't hear anything except the rushing of blood through his ears and feel the pain in his hand because Mercedes was squeezing it so hard.

  
He couldn't have heard that right, could he? Was Puck really saying what Kurt thought he was saying? The sound of music starting up brought him out of his daze and he stared at the trio, but actually only one boy on stage.

_Unspoken, in silence_

_Let's stay here tonight_

_There's no reason to ask me_

_Cause you know what's inside_

_Don't worry now_

_Seasons will change_

_Forgive my mouth_

_For not letting you walk away_

_Take your love, bring it back_

_Bring it back_

_Think before you leave_

_I forgot what love is_

_Bring it back_

_Tell me that you believe_

_What fate has been telling me._

Kurt knew the song and couldn't stop his lips from curling into a small smile. Puck was singing a Kris Allen song, _Bring It Back_ , and Kurt knew why.

He had sung an Adam Lambert song the first time Puck hurt him sing, so what could be better than to sing back to him with a Kris Allen song? He was surprised though when after the chorus the music suddenly changed and he went into _Is It Over_ , another song from Kris.

Puck was doing a mash-up. And he was doing a pretty damn good job at it too.

_This time you say it's for good_

_You've played kind_

_For as long as you could_

_With your head in your hands_

_And your tears on my chest_

_I think to myself, I'm not giving up yet_

_And I say, is it over?_

_Or can I turn you around_

_If I crawl on my knees_

_To rewrite our story tonight_

_Would you care or are you already gone?_

_So take your time_

_As you're headed for the door_

_Cause I might find_

_The right words to say_

_If you give me a second more_

_I'm no good at goodbyes_

_And my pride's here to see_

_That I won't let you go_

_As you walk out on me_

_And I say, is it over?_

_Or can I turn you around_

_If I crawl on my knees_

_To rewrite our story tonight_

_Would you care, or are you already gone?_

_Take your love, bring it back_

_Bring it back_

_Think before you leave_

_I forgot what love is_

_Bring it back_

_Tell me that you believe_

_What fate has been telling me_

_Would you care, or are you already gone?_

_Would you care, or are you already gone?_

Once the music died down and Puck stopped singing, everybody stopped dancing or swaying and started clapping and cheering for the boys; especially for Puck.

The two people who weren't clapping or cheering, who weren't doing much of anything except staring, were Kurt and Mercedes.

  
Kurt was staring at Puck, who was now getting a little anxious and slightly uncomfortable, not really knowing what else to do. Puck was looking back at first but now he was doing his best to look anywhere but at the boy he just poured his heart out to.

It took an elbow from Rachel to his stomach for Kurt to snap back into reality and stare at the two girls who were now looking inquiringly at him.

  
"Well?" Rachel asked.

  
"Well what?" Kurt cleared his throat, because his voice sounded a little too hoarse to his liking.

"Well," Mercedes chimed in this time, "Aren't you going to do something? That boy just laid his heart out before you and the rest of the school you know."

  
"This is hardly the rest of the school..."

  
"Kurt."

  
"Ok, I'm sorry!" Kurt said, a little exasperated, "What am I supposed to do now? I just don't know..."

  
Rachel and Mercedes shared a look with each other before turning to Kurt and exclaiming in unison, "Go to him!"

  
Swallowing, Kurt looked back at the stage and saw Sam and Finn were walking down the steps, down onto the dance floor. Puck was still fiddling with his guitar, obviously stalling for time.

  
Another nudge from Rachel made his legs start moving and he found himself walking towards the stage, then up the steps to stop right in front of Puck, who had just put down his guitar. They stared at each other and for a few moments it felt like there was nobody there but them.

  
"Kris Allen, huh?" Kurt finally spoke up, "Very original."

  
Puck shrugged, "Hey, if you can do Adam Lambert. I can do Kris Allen."

  
Kurt chuckled, "You sure can. That mash-up was pretty nice."

  
Scratching at his mohawk, Puck smiled a little. "Thanks."

  
They went back to staring at each other and everybody could feel the atmosphere around them change. They were having a moment; a moment that could only evolve into one thing.

  
"Did you mean what you said?" Kurt asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

  
Puck nodded, "Every word."

  
Kurt's breath hitched a little when he saw Puck reach out his hand to brush his bangs out of his eyes and tucked it behind his ear. It was such a sweet gesture. Kurt stepped closer so their bodies were almost touching, but still not completely. Then he put his hand on Puck's chest, right over his heart, and Puck placed his big hand over Kurt's smaller one.

Now was the moment that had been building up for so long but never really had a chance to happen. Not before now.

  
Kurt reached up at the same time as Puck ducked his head and their lips met. It was like they were in their own bubble where there was nothing except them and the feeling of their lips against each other. Kurt’s fingers dug into Puck's shirt and chest. Their bubble burst when the catcalls and dog whistles rose up from the crowd of spectators and Puck and Kurt pulled apart, both grinning like fools.

  
Then Principal Figgins came onto the stage, clapping both boys gently on their shoulder before they walked off the stage, Puck's arm hanging casually over Kurt's shoulder.

It was time to announce the Prom King and Queen, so they had to get back up there almost immediately.

  
The people who dared to even chuckle when Kurt was called up to stand with the girls got shot down by Puck's death glare. Finn and Santana were crowned King and Queen, but everyone was surprised when Quinn hugged Santana and seemed genuinely happy for her friend.

  
Finn was a little nervous about having to do the mandatory dance with Santana, but when the Latina said; "Hudson, I popped your cherry. Dancing with me shouldn't be that much of a problem." So Finn, albeit blushing, started to dance with her, and soon Puck and Kurt and everyone else joined in.

  
Then suddenly the music stopped and Kurt's head snapped back to the stage when he heard Blaine announce the Dalton Warblers and a "special guest". The Warblers had always been Blaine friends and Kurt knew they had agreed to sing with Blaine. But he was curious about who the guest could be. Puck on the other hand was smirking and stood behind Kurt, with his hands on the smaller boys' waist.

  
"What's going on?" Kurt asked, leaning his head back to let it rest on Puck's shoulder.

Puck just pressed a kiss against his temple, not even surprised at how natural it felt and said softly, "You'll see."

  
Before Kurt could ask again, or complain that Puck wouldn't tell him, the opening chords of "Teenage Dream" started playing and Blaine started singing. When he finished the first stanza, another voice rose up from the crowd and made his way over to the stage.

Kurt's eyes widened just a little when he saw it was Sebastian walking over to the stage, giving Puck a high five as he passed them by.

Kurt knew Blaine was fond of the guy because he hadn't stopped talking about Sebastian ever since Puck had brought him along to Kurt's house, along with the rest of the basketball team. It now seemed like there was something more growing between the two boys.

  
Kurt was shocked that Blaine had kept that a secret from him, while Sebastian obviously hadn't kept it a secret from Puck. Oh, Blaine was so going to get it later, Kurt thought to himself, much later. Now all that mattered was how Puck turned him around so they came face to face, his hands still on Kurt's hips, and how he started swaying them to the music.

Kurt laughed as Puck spun him around a few times and he could see all the other students watching them dance, all with different expressions on their faces.

Some like Finn, Rachel, Sam, Mercedes and the unholy trinity – Santana, Brittany and Quinn looked happy for them. Others looked surprised but amused by it all, some looked disgusted and then others looked almost jealous. Kurt saw all the girls ogling Puck, and saw they were jealous he was dancing with the object of their lust. Let them ogle him as much as they wanted. Kurt didn’t care; he was the one taking the stud home with him at the end of the party.

  
They might not have won the position of Prom King and "Queen", but they did win each other.

  
In the end, that's all that matters.  
  


A/N: There's an epilogue in the works, but I don't know when it will be done and up for posting. This is the original ending. The epilogue came as an after thought.


End file.
